diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b3417b0e8..6dd2ef56f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 - Updated uv from 0.9.7 to 0.9.9. ([#1961](https://github.com/heroku/heroku-buildpack-python/pull/1961))
 - Improved the error message shown for `.python-version` files that contain unexpected ASCII control code characters. ([#1962](https://github.com/heroku/heroku-buildpack-python/pull/1962))
 - Fixed Bash command substitution warnings from being shown if `runtime.txt` contains null byte characters. ([#1962](https://github.com/heroku/heroku-buildpack-python/pull/1962))
+- Improved the error message shown if the buildpack's build data file is deleted by a pre/post-compile hook. ([#1963](https://github.com/heroku/heroku-buildpack-python/pull/1963))
 
 ## [v318] - 2025-11-12
 
diff --git a/lib/build_data.sh b/lib/build_data.sh
index 9841e0f45..93434ac38 100644
--- a/lib/build_data.sh
+++ b/lib/build_data.sh
@@ -104,9 +104,25 @@ function build_data::_set() {
 		local jq_args=(--argjson value "${value}")
 	fi
 
-	local new_data_file_contents
-	new_data_file_contents="$(jq --arg key "${key}" "${jq_args[@]}" '. + { ($key): ($value) }' "${BUILD_DATA_FILE}")"
-	echo "${new_data_file_contents}" >"${BUILD_DATA_FILE}"
+	if [[ -f "${BUILD_DATA_FILE}" ]]; then
+		local new_data_file_contents
+		new_data_file_contents="$(jq --exit-status --arg key "${key}" "${jq_args[@]}" '. + { ($key): ($value) }' "${BUILD_DATA_FILE}")"
+		echo "${new_data_file_contents}" >"${BUILD_DATA_FILE}"
+	else
+		output::error <<-EOF
+			Error: Can't find the buildpack's build data file.
+
+			The Python buildpack's internal build data file is missing:
+			${BUILD_DATA_FILE}
+
+			This file is required for the buildpack to work correctly,
+			and so you must not delete it when removing files from the
+			build cache or /tmp directories.
+		EOF
+		build_data::setup
+		build_data::set_string "failure_reason" "build-data::data-file-deleted"
+		exit 1
+	fi
 }
 
 # Check whether an entry exists in the build data store for the current build.
@@ -143,6 +159,7 @@ function build_data::get_previous() {
 		tac "${LEGACY_BUILD_DATA_FILE}" | { grep --perl-regexp --only-matching --max-count=1 "^${key}=\K.*$" || true; }
 	elif [[ -f "${PREVIOUS_BUILD_DATA_FILE}" ]]; then
 		# The `// empty` ensures we return the empty string rather than `null` if the key doesn't exist.
+		# We don't use `--exit-status` since `false` is a valid value for us to retrieve.
 		jq --raw-output ".${key} // empty" "${PREVIOUS_BUILD_DATA_FILE}"
 	fi
 }
@@ -170,5 +187,5 @@ function build_data::current_unix_realtime() {
 # build_data::print_bin_report_json
 # ```
 function build_data::print_bin_report_json() {
-	jq --sort-keys '.' "${BUILD_DATA_FILE}"
+	jq --exit-status --sort-keys '.' "${BUILD_DATA_FILE}"
 }
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/hooks_delete_cache_dir/bin/post_compile b/spec/fixtures/hooks_delete_cache_dir/bin/post_compile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..383d0656b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/hooks_delete_cache_dir/bin/post_compile
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+set -x
+rm -rf "${CACHE_DIR:?}"
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/hooks_delete_cache_dir/requirements.txt b/spec/fixtures/hooks_delete_cache_dir/requirements.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/spec/hatchet/hooks_spec.rb b/spec/hatchet/hooks_spec.rb
index e58a7969c..18fa2eed6 100644
--- a/spec/hatchet/hooks_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/hatchet/hooks_spec.rb
@@ -78,4 +78,28 @@
       end
     end
   end
+
+  context 'when an app tries to delete the whole cache directory including the build data file' do
+    let(:app) { Hatchet::Runner.new('spec/fixtures/hooks_delete_cache_dir', allow_failure: true) }
+
+    it 'aborts the build with a suitable error message' do
+      app.deploy do |app|
+        expect(clean_output(app.output)).to include(<<~OUTPUT)
+          remote: -----> Running bin/post_compile hook
+          remote:        + rm -rf /tmp/codon/tmp/cache
+          remote: 
+          remote:  !     Error: Can't find the buildpack's build data file.
+          remote:  !     
+          remote:  !     The Python buildpack's internal build data file is missing:
+          remote:  !     /tmp/codon/tmp/cache/build-data/python.json
+          remote:  !     
+          remote:  !     This file is required for the buildpack to work correctly,
+          remote:  !     and so you must not delete it when removing files from the
+          remote:  !     build cache or /tmp directories.
+          remote: 
+          remote:  !     Push rejected, failed to compile Python app.
+        OUTPUT
+      end
+    end
+  end
 end