diff --git a/src/runtime/cli/test/Scanner.rs b/src/runtime/cli/test/Scanner.rs
index 30698f15555e..5a3a6aa2ad96 100644
--- a/src/runtime/cli/test/Scanner.rs
+++ b/src/runtime/cli/test/Scanner.rs
@@ -32,10 +32,16 @@ pub struct Scanner<'a> {
     pub(crate) options: &'a BundleOptions<'a>,
     pub(crate) has_iterated: bool,
     pub(crate) search_count: usize,
+    /// Directories that could not be opened or read; non-zero fails the run.
+    pub(crate) unreadable_dirs: usize,
+    /// `(st_dev, st_ino)` of every directory scanned so far.
+    visited_dirs: VisitedDirs,
     /// The directory being iterated; its fd closes once every child `ScanEntry` has been opened.
     current_dir: Option<Rc<Dir>>,
 }
 
+type VisitedDirs = bun_collections::hashbrown::HashSet<(u64, u64), bun_wyhash::BuildHasher>;
+
 // FIFO queue of scan entries (pop_front / push_back).
 pub(crate) type Fifo = VecDeque<ScanEntry>;
 
@@ -88,10 +94,54 @@ impl<'a> Scanner<'a> {
             open_dir_buf: PathBuffer::uninit(),
             has_iterated: false,
             search_count: 0,
+            unreadable_dirs: 0,
+            visited_dirs: VisitedDirs::default(),
             current_dir: None,
         })
     }
 
+    /// A directory that vanished between readdir and open (or a dangling link
+    /// to one) is not an error; anything else is reported and fails the run.
+    fn report_unreadable_dir(&mut self, path: &[u8], err: &bun_sys::Error) {
+        if err.get_errno() == bun_sys::E::ENOENT {
+            return;
+        }
+        self.unreadable_dirs += 1;
+        bun_core::pretty_errorln!(
+            "<r><red>error<r>: could not scan {} for tests\n{}",
+            bun_core::fmt::quote(path),
+            err.with_path(path)
+        );
+    }
+
+    fn report_dir_read_error(&mut self, path: &[u8], err: bun_resolver::Error, tag: bun_sys::Tag) {
+        match err {
+            bun_resolver::Error::Sys(errno) => self.report_unreadable_dir(
+                path,
+                &bun_sys::Error::from_code_int(errno as core::ffi::c_int, tag),
+            ),
+            other => {
+                self.unreadable_dirs += 1;
+                bun_core::pretty_errorln!(
+                    "<r><red>error<r>: could not scan {} for tests\n{}",
+                    bun_core::fmt::quote(path),
+                    other
+                );
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Returns `false` when `fd`'s directory was scanned before. A filesystem
+    /// that reports no inode number (`st_ino == 0`) gets no deduplication.
+    fn mark_visited(&mut self, fd: Fd) -> bool {
+        match bun_sys::fstat(fd) {
+            Ok(st) if st.st_ino != 0 => self
+                .visited_dirs
+                .insert((st.st_dev as u64, st.st_ino as u64)),
+            _ => true,
+        }
+    }
+
     #[inline]
     pub(crate) fn fs(&self) -> &'static FileSystem {
         // SAFETY: process-singleton; no `&mut` to it is live outside the iterator callback.
@@ -158,6 +208,13 @@ impl<'a> Scanner<'a> {
                     bstr::BStr::new(path),
                     root_err.original_err.name()
                 );
+                self.report_dir_read_error(path, e, bun_sys::Tag::open);
+            }
+        } else {
+            let zpath = bun_core::ZBox::from_bytes(path);
+            if let Ok(st) = bun_sys::fstatat(Fd::cwd(), &zpath) {
+                self.visited_dirs
+                    .insert((st.st_dev as u64, st.st_ino as u64));
             }
         }
 
@@ -204,10 +261,17 @@ impl<'a> Scanner<'a> {
             let opened = bun_sys::open_dir_no_renaming_or_deleting_windows(parent, rel_path);
             // Dropping `entry` releases the parent fd once its last child is opened.
             drop(entry);
-            let Ok(child_fd) = opened else {
-                continue;
+            let child_fd = match opened {
+                Ok(fd) => fd,
+                Err(err) => {
+                    self.report_unreadable_dir(path2, &err);
+                    continue;
+                }
             };
             let child_dir = Rc::new(Dir::from_fd(child_fd));
+            if !self.mark_visited(child_dir.fd) {
+                continue;
+            }
             let path2 = self
                 .fs()
                 .dirname_store
@@ -216,7 +280,9 @@ impl<'a> Scanner<'a> {
             self.current_dir = Some(Rc::clone(&child_dir));
             let result = self.read_dir_with_name(path2, Some(child_dir.fd));
             self.current_dir = None;
-            result.map_err(|_| ScanError::OutOfMemory)?;
+            if let EntriesOption::Err(dir_err) = result.map_err(|_| ScanError::OutOfMemory)? {
+                self.report_dir_read_error(path2, dir_err.original_err, bun_sys::Tag::scandir);
+            }
         }
 
         Ok(())
diff --git a/src/runtime/cli/test_command.rs b/src/runtime/cli/test_command.rs
index fbf7dd9fc7c9..ac8d6e32c571 100644
--- a/src/runtime/cli/test_command.rs
+++ b/src/runtime/cli/test_command.rs
@@ -2167,6 +2167,7 @@ impl TestCommand {
         // so the watcher-enable check below can read it without reborrowing.
         let all_test_files_count = all_test_files.len();
         let search_count = scanner.search_count;
+        let unreadable_dirs = scanner.unreadable_dirs;
         drop(scanner);
 
         // When --changed or --shard filters the discovered test files
@@ -2642,6 +2643,13 @@ impl TestCommand {
             }
         }
 
+        if unreadable_dirs > 0 {
+            pretty_error!(
+                "<r><red>error<r>: {} director{} could not be scanned for tests\n",
+                unreadable_dirs,
+                if unreadable_dirs == 1 { "y" } else { "ies" }
+            );
+        }
         pretty_error!("\n");
         Output::flush();
 
@@ -2668,6 +2676,7 @@ impl TestCommand {
                 && coverage_options.fail_on_low_coverage)
             || !write_snapshots_success
             || reporter.jest.unhandled_errors_between_tests > 0
+            || unreadable_dirs > 0
         {
             vm.exit_handler.exit_code = 1;
         }
diff --git a/test/cli/test/bun-test.test.ts b/test/cli/test/bun-test.test.ts
index 49a4905e9b14..751f177cc594 100644
--- a/test/cli/test/bun-test.test.ts
+++ b/test/cli/test/bun-test.test.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { spawnSync } from "bun";
 import { beforeAll, describe, expect, it, test } from "bun:test";
 import { bunEnv, bunExe, isLinux, isWindows, tempDir, tempDirWithFiles, tmpdirSync } from "harness";
-import { mkdirSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { chmodSync, mkdirSync, readFileSync, rmSync, symlinkSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
 import { basename, dirname, join, resolve, sep } from "node:path";
 
 describe("bun test", () => {
@@ -2091,4 +2091,77 @@ describe.concurrent("test file discovery (scanner)", () => {
     expect(stderr).toContain(" 1 pass");
     expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
   });
+
+  test.skipIf(isWindows)("a symlink that points back into the tree is scanned once", async () => {
+    using dir = tempDir("scanner-symlink-loop", {
+      "sub/a.test.ts": `import { test } from "bun:test"; test("a", () => { console.log("RAN a"); });`,
+      "sub/deeper/b.test.ts": `import { test } from "bun:test"; test("b", () => { console.log("RAN b"); });`,
+    });
+    // sub/loop -> the scan root, sub/deeper/self -> sub/deeper
+    symlinkSync("..", join(String(dir), "sub", "loop"));
+    symlinkSync(".", join(String(dir), "sub", "deeper", "self"));
+
+    await using proc = Bun.spawn({
+      cmd: [bunExe(), "test"],
+      env: bunEnv,
+      cwd: String(dir),
+      stdout: "pipe",
+      stderr: "pipe",
+    });
+    const [stdout, stderr, exitCode] = await Promise.all([proc.stdout.text(), proc.stderr.text(), proc.exited]);
+
+    expect(stdout.match(/RAN a/g)).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(stdout.match(/RAN b/g)).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(stderr).toContain("Ran 2 tests across 2 files.");
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  // root bypasses permission checks, so the unreadable directory is only
+  // unreadable for a different user.
+  function hasNobodyUser(): boolean {
+    try {
+      return /^nobody:/m.test(readFileSync("/etc/passwd", "utf8"));
+    } catch {
+      return false;
+    }
+  }
+  const canUseRunuser =
+    isLinux &&
+    typeof process.getuid === "function" &&
+    process.getuid() === 0 &&
+    !!Bun.which("runuser") &&
+    hasNobodyUser();
+
+  test.skipIf(!canUseRunuser)("a directory that cannot be read is reported and fails the run", async () => {
+    using dir = tempDir("scanner-unreadable", {
+      "ok/a.test.ts": `import { test } from "bun:test"; test("a", () => { console.log("RAN a"); });`,
+      "locked/b.test.ts": `import { test } from "bun:test"; test("b", () => { console.log("RAN b"); });`,
+    });
+    const root = String(dir);
+    chmodSync(root, 0o755);
+    chmodSync(join(root, "ok"), 0o755);
+    chmodSync(join(root, "ok", "a.test.ts"), 0o644);
+    chmodSync(join(root, "locked"), 0o000);
+
+    try {
+      await using proc = Bun.spawn({
+        cmd: ["runuser", "-m", "-u", "nobody", "--", bunExe(), "test"],
+        env: bunEnv,
+        cwd: root,
+        stdout: "pipe",
+        stderr: "pipe",
+      });
+      const [stdout, stderr, exitCode] = await Promise.all([proc.stdout.text(), proc.stderr.text(), proc.exited]);
+
+      // The readable part of the tree still runs.
+      expect(stdout).toContain("RAN a");
+      expect(stderr).toContain(" 1 pass");
+      expect(stderr).toContain(`could not scan "${join(root, "locked")}" for tests`);
+      expect(stderr).toContain("EACCES");
+      expect(stderr).toContain("1 directory could not be scanned for tests");
+      expect(exitCode).toBe(1);
+    } finally {
+      chmodSync(join(root, "locked"), 0o755);
+    }
+  });
 });