diff --git a/ILSpy.Tests/Commands/CommandLineArgumentsTests.cs b/ILSpy.Tests/Commands/CommandLineArgumentsTests.cs
index adcc105ee..f91ecdaa7 100644
--- a/ILSpy.Tests/Commands/CommandLineArgumentsTests.cs
+++ b/ILSpy.Tests/Commands/CommandLineArgumentsTests.cs
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 // OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER
 // DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
 
+using System;
+using System.IO;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
 
 using Avalonia.Headless.NUnit;
@@ -108,4 +110,33 @@ public class CommandLineArgumentsTests
 		// Assert — SelectedItem is still null.
 		((object?)vm.AssemblyTreeModel.SelectedItem).Should().BeNull();
 	}
+
+	[AvaloniaTest]
+	public async Task NavigateTo_Skips_A_Missing_Session_Assembly_Instead_Of_Crashing()
+	{
+		// A restored session can still list an assembly whose file has since been deleted or
+		// moved. Navigating on launch eagerly loads every relevant assembly's metadata before
+		// resolving the target; a gone file must be skipped, not abort startup with an
+		// unhandled exception. Regression test for a DirectoryNotFoundException thrown out of
+		// that pre-load loop.
+
+		// Arrange — boot, then inject a session assembly whose file does not exist.
+		var window = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<MainWindow>();
+		window.Show();
+		var vm = (MainWindowViewModel)window.DataContext!;
+		await vm.AssemblyTreeModel.WaitForAssembliesAsync(minimumCount: 3);
+
+		var missingPath = Path.Combine(
+			Path.GetTempPath(), "ILSpyMissing_" + Guid.NewGuid().ToString("N"), "gone.dll");
+		vm.AssemblyTreeModel.AssemblyList!.OpenAssembly(missingPath);
+
+		var args = CommandLineArguments.Create(new[] { "--navigateto", "T:System.Linq.Enumerable" });
+
+		// Act — applying the args must complete without throwing despite the missing entry.
+		await vm.AssemblyTreeModel.HandleCommandLineArgumentsAsync(args);
+
+		// Assert — the missing assembly was skipped and the present target still resolved.
+		((object?)vm.AssemblyTreeModel.SelectedItem).Should().NotBeNull();
+		vm.AssemblyTreeModel.SelectedItem!.ToString().Should().Be("System.Linq.Enumerable");
+	}
 }
diff --git a/ILSpy/AssemblyTree/AssemblyTreeModel.cs b/ILSpy/AssemblyTree/AssemblyTreeModel.cs
index 3fc90fa10..d0aab0cd1 100644
--- a/ILSpy/AssemblyTree/AssemblyTreeModel.cs
+++ b/ILSpy/AssemblyTree/AssemblyTreeModel.cs
@@ -710,7 +710,9 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.AssemblyTree
 					var assemblyNode = FindAssemblyNode(asm);
 					if (assemblyNode == null)
 						continue;
-					await asm.GetMetadataFileAsync().ConfigureAwait(true);
+					// A restored session can reference an assembly whose file is gone; loading it must
+					// not abort navigation, so skip a failed load rather than throw out of startup.
+					await asm.GetMetadataFileOrNullAsync().ConfigureAwait(true);
 					var nsNode = assemblyNode.FindNamespaceNode(namespaceName);
 					if (nsNode != null)
 					{
@@ -721,8 +723,10 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.AssemblyTree
 				return;
 			}
 
+			// A gone or unreadable assembly resolves to null and is skipped by the entity search
+			// below; eagerly loading it here must not throw and crash navigation on launch.
 			foreach (var asm in relevant)
-				await asm.GetMetadataFileAsync().ConfigureAwait(true);
+				await asm.GetMetadataFileOrNullAsync().ConfigureAwait(true);
 
 			var entity = await Task.Run(() => FindEntityInRelevantAssemblies(navigateTo, relevant));
 			if (entity != null)