diff --git a/cli/engine/cli/main.mjs b/cli/engine/cli/main.mjs
index b77281e7d..e54887323 100644
--- a/cli/engine/cli/main.mjs
+++ b/cli/engine/cli/main.mjs
@@ -364,7 +364,11 @@ async function detectCli() {
         const resolved = path.resolve(target);
         let stat;
         try { stat = fs.statSync(resolved); }
-        catch { process.stderr.write(`Warning: cannot access ${target}\n`); continue; }
+        catch {
+          hadOperationalFailure = true;
+          process.stderr.write(`Warning: cannot access ${target}\n`);
+          continue;
+        }
 
         if (stat.isDirectory()) {
           // Check for framework dev server config (skip in JSON/quiet modes to avoid polluting output)
diff --git a/tests/detect-url-launch.test.mjs b/tests/detect-url-launch.test.mjs
index 75200c3e6..18119e96c 100644
--- a/tests/detect-url-launch.test.mjs
+++ b/tests/detect-url-launch.test.mjs
@@ -138,6 +138,26 @@ describe('detect CLI browser failures', () => {
     expect(findings.some(finding => finding.antipattern === 'bounce-easing')).toBe(true);
     expect(result.stderr).toContain('puppeteer is required for URL scanning');
   });
+
+  test('exits 1 when an explicitly requested local target cannot be accessed', () => {
+    const result = runWithoutPuppeteer(['missing.css']);
+
+    expect(result.status).toBe(1);
+    expect(result.stdout).toBe('[]\n');
+    expect(result.stderr).toContain('Warning: cannot access missing.css');
+  });
+
+  test('missing local target takes precedence over findings from another target', () => {
+    const result = runWithoutPuppeteer(
+      ['missing.css', 'page.css'],
+      { 'page.css': '.hero { animation: bounce 1s linear infinite; }\n' },
+    );
+    const findings = JSON.parse(result.stdout);
+
+    expect(result.status).toBe(1);
+    expect(findings.some(finding => finding.antipattern === 'bounce-easing')).toBe(true);
+    expect(result.stderr).toContain('Warning: cannot access missing.css');
+  });
 });
 
 describe('splitScanUrl', () => {