diff --git a/.changeset/reuse-current-lockfile-when-wanted-missing.md b/.changeset/reuse-current-lockfile-when-wanted-missing.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a93361a34a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/reuse-current-lockfile-when-wanted-missing.md
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+---
+"@pnpm/installing.deps-installer": patch
+"@pnpm/installing.context": patch
+"pnpm": patch
+---
+
+Skip dependency re-resolution when `pnpm-lock.yaml` is missing but `node_modules/.pnpm/lock.yaml` exists and still satisfies the manifest. `pnpm install` now reuses the materialized snapshot to regenerate `pnpm-lock.yaml` instead of walking the registry to rebuild it from scratch, turning the cache+node_modules variation into a near-no-op for users who deleted the lockfile but kept the install [#11993](https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/issues/11993).
+
+`--frozen-lockfile` still refuses to proceed when `pnpm-lock.yaml` is absent — the regenerated lockfile must be committed, so failing loudly is the correct behavior for CI.
diff --git a/installing/context/src/index.ts b/installing/context/src/index.ts
index 10d110d4e1..747b63b2cd 100644
--- a/installing/context/src/index.ts
+++ b/installing/context/src/index.ts
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ export interface PnpmContext {
   existsCurrentLockfile: boolean
   existsWantedLockfile: boolean
   existsNonEmptyWantedLockfile: boolean
+  hasUsableLockfile: boolean
   extraBinPaths: string[]
   /** Affected by existing modules directory, if it exists. */
   extraNodePaths: string[]
@@ -207,6 +208,7 @@ export interface PnpmSingleContext {
   existsCurrentLockfile: boolean
   existsWantedLockfile: boolean
   existsNonEmptyWantedLockfile: boolean
+  hasUsableLockfile: boolean
   /** Affected by existing modules directory, if it exists. */
   extraBinPaths: string[]
   extraNodePaths: string[]
diff --git a/installing/context/src/readLockfiles.ts b/installing/context/src/readLockfiles.ts
index f298f2103d..cb43d88df8 100644
--- a/installing/context/src/readLockfiles.ts
+++ b/installing/context/src/readLockfiles.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ export interface PnpmContext {
   existsCurrentLockfile: boolean
   existsWantedLockfile: boolean
   existsNonEmptyWantedLockfile: boolean
+  hasUsableLockfile: boolean
   wantedLockfile: LockfileObject
 }
 
@@ -48,6 +49,7 @@ export async function readLockfiles (
   existsCurrentLockfile: boolean
   existsWantedLockfile: boolean
   existsNonEmptyWantedLockfile: boolean
+  hasUsableLockfile: boolean
   wantedLockfile: LockfileObject
   wantedLockfileIsModified: boolean
   lockfileHadConflicts: boolean
@@ -122,10 +124,14 @@ export async function readLockfiles (
       }
     }
   }
+  const existsWantedLockfile = files[0] != null
+  const existsCurrentLockfile = files[1] != null
   const wantedLockfile = files[0] ??
     (currentLockfile && clone(currentLockfile)) ??
     createLockfileObject(importerIds, sopts)
-  let wantedLockfileIsModified = false
+  // Cloning the current lockfile means the disk copy of the wanted lockfile is
+  // stale, so flag it for rewriting after the install completes.
+  let wantedLockfileIsModified = !existsWantedLockfile && existsCurrentLockfile
   for (const importerId of importerIds) {
     if (!wantedLockfile.importers[importerId]) {
       wantedLockfileIsModified = true
@@ -134,13 +140,13 @@ export async function readLockfiles (
       }
     }
   }
-  const existsWantedLockfile = files[0] != null
   return {
     currentLockfile,
     currentLockfileIsUpToDate: equals(currentLockfile, wantedLockfile),
-    existsCurrentLockfile: files[1] != null,
+    existsCurrentLockfile,
     existsWantedLockfile,
     existsNonEmptyWantedLockfile: existsWantedLockfile && !isEmptyLockfile(wantedLockfile),
+    hasUsableLockfile: !isEmptyLockfile(wantedLockfile),
     wantedLockfile,
     wantedLockfileIsModified,
     lockfileHadConflicts,
diff --git a/installing/deps-installer/src/install/index.ts b/installing/deps-installer/src/install/index.ts
index a4c592438c..7c0420dbb7 100644
--- a/installing/deps-installer/src/install/index.ts
+++ b/installing/deps-installer/src/install/index.ts
@@ -909,7 +909,7 @@ export async function mutateModules (
         !needsFullResolution &&
         opts.preferFrozenLockfile &&
         (!opts.pruneLockfileImporters || Object.keys(ctx.wantedLockfile.importers).length === Object.keys(ctx.projects).length) &&
-        ctx.existsNonEmptyWantedLockfile &&
+        ctx.hasUsableLockfile &&
         ctx.wantedLockfile.lockfileVersion === LOCKFILE_VERSION &&
         await allProjectsAreUpToDate(Object.values(ctx.projects), {
           catalogs: opts.catalogs,
@@ -939,6 +939,17 @@ Note that in CI environments, this setting is enabled by default.`,
       )
     }
     if (!opts.ignorePackageManifest) {
+      // `--frozen-lockfile` (the CI default) means "fail if pnpm-lock.yaml is
+      // out of sync." Treat its absence as a sync failure even when the
+      // synthesized snapshot from node_modules/.pnpm/lock.yaml would satisfy
+      // the manifest — the developer needs to commit the regenerated file.
+      if (frozenLockfile && !ctx.existsWantedLockfile &&
+        Object.values(ctx.projects).some((project) => pkgHasDependencies(project.manifest))) {
+        throw new PnpmError('NO_LOCKFILE',
+          `Cannot install with "frozen-lockfile" because ${WANTED_LOCKFILE} is absent`, {
+            hint: 'Note that in CI environments this setting is true by default. If you still need to run install in such cases, use "pnpm install --no-frozen-lockfile"',
+          })
+      }
       const _satisfiesPackageManifest = satisfiesPackageManifest.bind(null, {
         autoInstallPeers: opts.autoInstallPeers,
         excludeLinksFromLockfile: opts.excludeLinksFromLockfile,
@@ -972,7 +983,7 @@ Note that in CI environments, this setting is enabled by default.`,
         ignoredBuilds: undefined,
       }
     }
-    if (!ctx.existsNonEmptyWantedLockfile) {
+    if (!ctx.hasUsableLockfile) {
       if (Object.values(ctx.projects).some((project) => pkgHasDependencies(project.manifest))) {
         throw new Error(`Headless installation requires a ${WANTED_LOCKFILE} file`)
       }
diff --git a/installing/deps-installer/test/install/frozenLockfile.ts b/installing/deps-installer/test/install/frozenLockfile.ts
index 718dcedd73..c6315630ee 100644
--- a/installing/deps-installer/test/install/frozenLockfile.ts
+++ b/installing/deps-installer/test/install/frozenLockfile.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import fs from 'node:fs'
 import path from 'node:path'
 
 import { expect, jest, test } from '@jest/globals'
@@ -220,6 +221,78 @@ test(`prefer-frozen-lockfile+hoistPattern: should prefer headless installation w
   project.has('.pnpm/node_modules/@pnpm.e2e/dep-of-pkg-with-1-dep')
 })
 
+test(`prefer-frozen-lockfile: should reuse node_modules/.pnpm/lock.yaml when ${WANTED_LOCKFILE} is missing and the snapshot satisfies package.json`, async () => {
+  const project = prepareEmpty()
+
+  const { updatedManifest: manifest } = await install({
+    dependencies: {
+      'is-positive': '^3.0.0',
+    },
+  }, testDefaults())
+
+  project.has('is-positive')
+
+  const wantedLockfilePath = path.resolve(WANTED_LOCKFILE)
+  const lockfileBefore = fs.readFileSync(wantedLockfilePath, 'utf8')
+  fs.rmSync(wantedLockfilePath)
+
+  const reporter = jest.fn()
+  await install(manifest, testDefaults({ reporter, preferFrozenLockfile: true }))
+
+  expect(reporter).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.objectContaining({
+    level: 'info',
+    message: 'Lockfile is up to date, resolution step is skipped',
+    name: 'pnpm',
+  }))
+
+  expect(fs.existsSync(wantedLockfilePath)).toBe(true)
+  expect(fs.readFileSync(wantedLockfilePath, 'utf8')).toBe(lockfileBefore)
+  project.has('is-positive')
+})
+
+test(`prefer-frozen-lockfile: should re-resolve when ${WANTED_LOCKFILE} is missing and node_modules/.pnpm/lock.yaml does not satisfy package.json`, async () => {
+  const project = prepareEmpty()
+
+  await install({
+    dependencies: {
+      'is-positive': '^3.0.0',
+    },
+  }, testDefaults())
+
+  fs.rmSync(path.resolve(WANTED_LOCKFILE))
+
+  const reporter = jest.fn()
+  await install({
+    dependencies: {
+      'is-negative': '1.0.0',
+    },
+  }, testDefaults({ reporter, preferFrozenLockfile: true }))
+
+  expect(reporter).not.toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.objectContaining({
+    level: 'info',
+    message: 'Lockfile is up to date, resolution step is skipped',
+    name: 'pnpm',
+  }))
+
+  project.has('is-negative')
+})
+
+test(`frozen-lockfile: should fail if ${WANTED_LOCKFILE} is missing even when node_modules/.pnpm/lock.yaml satisfies package.json`, async () => {
+  prepareEmpty()
+
+  const { updatedManifest: manifest } = await install({
+    dependencies: {
+      'is-positive': '^3.0.0',
+    },
+  }, testDefaults())
+
+  fs.rmSync(path.resolve(WANTED_LOCKFILE))
+
+  await expect(
+    install(manifest, testDefaults({ frozenLockfile: true }))
+  ).rejects.toThrow(`Cannot install with "frozen-lockfile" because ${WANTED_LOCKFILE} is absent`)
+})
+
 test('prefer-frozen-lockfile: should prefer frozen-lockfile when package has linked dependency', async () => {
   const projects = preparePackages([
     {