diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index d063558784b..2b92d6b50b4 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/coreos/go-systemd/v22 v22.6.0
 	github.com/creack/pty v1.1.24
 	github.com/godbus/dbus/v5 v5.1.0
-	github.com/gofrs/flock v0.8.0
+	github.com/gofrs/flock v0.11.0
 	github.com/gogo/protobuf v1.3.2
 	github.com/google/btree v1.1.2
 	github.com/google/go-github/v84 v84.0.0
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 7835f843768..821f70a3d7d 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -116,8 +116,8 @@ github.com/go-task/slim-sprig/v3 v3.0.0 h1:sUs3vkvUymDpBKi3qH1YSqBQk9+9D/8M2mN1v
 github.com/go-task/slim-sprig/v3 v3.0.0/go.mod h1:W848ghGpv3Qj3dhTPRyJypKRiqCdHZiAzKg9hl15HA8=
 github.com/godbus/dbus/v5 v5.1.0 h1:4KLkAxT3aOY8Li4FRJe/KvhoNFFxo0m6fNuFUO8QJUk=
 github.com/godbus/dbus/v5 v5.1.0/go.mod h1:xhWf0FNVPg57R7Z0UbKHbJfkEywrmjJnf7w5xrFpKfA=
-github.com/gofrs/flock v0.8.0 h1:MSdYClljsF3PbENUUEx85nkWfJSGfzYI9yEBZOJz6CY=
-github.com/gofrs/flock v0.8.0/go.mod h1:F1TvTiK9OcQqauNUHlbJvyl9Qa1QvF/gOUDKA14jxHU=
+github.com/gofrs/flock v0.11.0 h1:AGFQxrpWd8ezw60AvLWIPbxMydNfF8564pwH3FCty0g=
+github.com/gofrs/flock v0.11.0/go.mod h1:FirDy1Ing0mI2+kB6wk+vyyAH+e6xiE+EYA0jnzV9jc=
 github.com/gogo/protobuf v1.3.2 h1:Ov1cvc58UF3b5XjBnZv7+opcTcQFZebYjWzi34vdm4Q=
 github.com/gogo/protobuf v1.3.2/go.mod h1:P1XiOD3dCwIKUDQYPy72D8LYyHL2YPYrpS2s69NZV8Q=
 github.com/golang/glog v0.0.0-20160126235308-23def4e6c14b/go.mod h1:SBH7ygxi8pfUlaOkMMuAQtPIUF8ecWP5IEl/CR7VP2Q=
diff --git a/runsc/container/BUILD b/runsc/container/BUILD
index 8296e6c718d..16429e0c026 100644
--- a/runsc/container/BUILD
+++ b/runsc/container/BUILD
@@ -115,6 +115,12 @@ go_test(
     ],
 )
 
+go_test(
+    name = "state_file_test",
+    srcs = ["state_file_test.go"],
+    embed = [":container"],
+)
+
 go_test(
     name = "serialization_test",
     srcs = ["serialization_test.go"],
diff --git a/runsc/container/state_file.go b/runsc/container/state_file.go
index e2d0bd72465..eed0c29055b 100644
--- a/runsc/container/state_file.go
+++ b/runsc/container/state_file.go
@@ -301,14 +301,14 @@ func (s *StateFile) lock(tryLock TryLock) error {
 	if tryLock {
 		gotLock, err := s.flock.TryLock()
 		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("acquiring lock on %q: %v", s.flock, err)
+			return fmt.Errorf("acquiring lock on %q: %w", s.flock, err)
 		}
 		if !gotLock {
 			return ErrStateFileLocked
 		}
 	} else {
 		if err := s.flock.Lock(); err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("acquiring lock on %q: %v", s.flock, err)
+			return fmt.Errorf("acquiring lock on %q: %w", s.flock, err)
 		}
 	}
 	return nil
@@ -387,7 +387,14 @@ func (s *StateFile) Stat() (os.FileInfo, error) {
 }
 
 func (s *StateFile) load(v any, opts LoadOpts) error {
+	// Open the lock file without O_CREATE, so that loading a destroyed container does not recreate it.
+	s.once.Do(func() {
+		s.flock = flock.New(s.lockPath(), flock.SetFlag(os.O_RDONLY))
+	})
 	if err := s.lock(opts.TryLock); err != nil {
+		if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
+			return os.ErrNotExist
+		}
 		return err
 	}
 	defer s.UnlockOrDie()
diff --git a/runsc/container/state_file_test.go b/runsc/container/state_file_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..dbc5736a9fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/runsc/container/state_file_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+// Copyright 2026 The gVisor Authors.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package container
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// TestLoadAfterDestroy runs Load's steps around a concurrent Destroy: the
+// state file is found, then destroyed, then locked and read.
+func TestLoadAfterDestroy(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	id := FullID{SandboxID: "sandbox", ContainerID: "container"}
+
+	creator := StateFile{RootDir: dir, ID: id}
+	if err := creator.LockForNew(); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("LockForNew: %v", err)
+	}
+	if err := creator.SaveLocked(&Container{}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("SaveLocked: %v", err)
+	}
+	creator.UnlockOrDie()
+
+	found, err := findContainerID(dir, id.ContainerID)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("findContainerID: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	deleter := StateFile{RootDir: dir, ID: id}
+	if err := deleter.lock(BlockAcquire); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("lock: %v", err)
+	}
+	if err := deleter.Destroy(); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Destroy: %v", err)
+	}
+	deleter.UnlockOrDie()
+
+	loader := StateFile{RootDir: dir, ID: found}
+	if err := loader.load(&Container{}, LoadOpts{}); !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		t.Fatalf("load: got %v, want not-exist error", err)
+	}
+	if _, err := os.Stat(loader.lockPath()); !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		t.Errorf("lock file %q still exists after loading a destroyed container", loader.lockPath())
+	}
+}
+
+// TestLoadExactMissing loads an ID that has no state file without globbing.
+func TestLoadExactMissing(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	id := FullID{SandboxID: "sandbox", ContainerID: "container"}
+
+	if _, err := Load(dir, id, LoadOpts{Exact: true}); !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		t.Fatalf("Load: got %v, want not-exist error", err)
+	}
+	entries, err := os.ReadDir(dir)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("ReadDir: %v", err)
+	}
+	if len(entries) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("Load of a missing container left %d files in %q", len(entries), dir)
+	}
+}