diff --git a/libs/usd-pointcloud-authoring/src/PointCloudCache.cpp b/libs/usd-pointcloud-authoring/src/PointCloudCache.cpp
index 8a95238..7ccaec9 100644
--- a/libs/usd-pointcloud-authoring/src/PointCloudCache.cpp
+++ b/libs/usd-pointcloud-authoring/src/PointCloudCache.cpp
@@ -379,7 +379,11 @@ bool TryLoadPointCloudCache(
         errorMessage = "unable to build cache layout";
         return false;
     }
-    if (!usdgeo::cache::IsCacheHit(layout)) {
+    const auto lookup = usdgeo::cache::Inspect(layout);
+    if (lookup.status == usdgeo::cache::LookupStatus::Incomplete) {
+        usdgeo::cache::Invalidate(cacheRoot, descriptor);
+    }
+    if (!lookup.IsHit()) {
         return true;
     }
 
diff --git a/libs/usd-pointcloud-authoring/tests/test_pointcloud_cache.cpp b/libs/usd-pointcloud-authoring/tests/test_pointcloud_cache.cpp
index c3b4019..0664d62 100644
--- a/libs/usd-pointcloud-authoring/tests/test_pointcloud_cache.cpp
+++ b/libs/usd-pointcloud-authoring/tests/test_pointcloud_cache.cpp
@@ -37,14 +37,11 @@ std::string FormatDouble(double value) {
 }
 
 usdgeo::cache::Descriptor MakeDescriptor(
-    const std::filesystem::path& sourcePath,
+    const usdgeo::cache::SourceIdentity& sourceIdentity,
     const usdgeo::GeoReference& reference,
     const usdpointcloud::PointReadRequest& request) {
     usdgeo::cache::Descriptor descriptor;
-    std::string errorMessage;
-    Check(usdgeo::cache::TryBuildLocalSourceIdentity(
-        sourcePath, descriptor.source, errorMessage));
-    Check(errorMessage.empty());
+    descriptor.source = sourceIdentity;
     descriptor.pluginVersion = "usd-pointcloud-plugins-0.3.0-display-v2";
     descriptor.parserVersion = "las-reader-1";
     descriptor.openUsdVersion = "26.08";
@@ -70,6 +67,18 @@ usdgeo::cache::Descriptor MakeDescriptor(
     return descriptor;
 }
 
+usdgeo::cache::Descriptor MakeDescriptor(
+    const std::filesystem::path& sourcePath,
+    const usdgeo::GeoReference& reference,
+    const usdpointcloud::PointReadRequest& request) {
+    usdgeo::cache::SourceIdentity sourceIdentity;
+    std::string errorMessage;
+    Check(usdgeo::cache::TryBuildLocalSourceIdentity(
+        sourcePath, sourceIdentity, errorMessage));
+    Check(errorMessage.empty());
+    return MakeDescriptor(sourceIdentity, reference, request);
+}
+
 void SetCacheRoot(const std::filesystem::path& root) {
 #if defined(_WIN32)
     Check(_putenv_s("USDGEO_CACHE_ROOT", root.string().c_str()) == 0);
@@ -222,6 +231,29 @@ void TestPointCloudCacheMissAndMaterialization() {
         "las-reader-1", hit, errorMessage));
     Check(!hit);
     Check(errorMessage.empty());
+    Check(!std::filesystem::exists(layout.entryDirectory));
+
+    const usdgeo::cache::SourceIdentity resolverIdentity{
+        "https://memory.example/pointcloud.copc", 42, 0, "revision-a"};
+    const auto resolverDescriptor =
+        MakeDescriptor(resolverIdentity, reference, request);
+    usdgeo::cache::Layout resolverLayout;
+    Check(usdgeo::cache::TryBuildLayout(
+        cacheRoot, resolverDescriptor, resolverLayout));
+    std::filesystem::create_directories(resolverLayout.payloadDirectory);
+    std::ofstream(resolverLayout.rootLayer, std::ios::binary)
+        << "incomplete resolver root";
+    const auto resolverLayer = pxr::SdfLayer::CreateNew(
+        (testRoot / "resolver-incomplete.usda").string());
+    Check(resolverLayer);
+    hit = true;
+    errorMessage.clear();
+    Check(usdgeo::TryLoadPointCloudCache(
+        resolverLayer.operator->(), resolverIdentity, {}, reference, request,
+        "las-reader-1", hit, errorMessage));
+    Check(!hit);
+    Check(errorMessage.empty());
+    Check(!std::filesystem::exists(resolverLayout.entryDirectory));
 
     const auto corruptSource = testRoot / "corrupt-source.las";
     {