diff --git a/lib/packwerk/file_processor.rb b/lib/packwerk/file_processor.rb
index 0fa28ffe8..6c3a4c1ac 100644
--- a/lib/packwerk/file_processor.rb
+++ b/lib/packwerk/file_processor.rb
@@ -53,6 +53,17 @@ def call(relative_file)
       ProcessedFile.new(unresolved_references: unresolved_references)
     rescue Parsers::ParseError => e
       ProcessedFile.new(offenses: [e.result])
+    rescue StandardError => e
+      message = <<~MSG
+        Packwerk encountered an internal error.
+        For now, you can add this file to `packwerk.yml` `exclude` list.
+        Please file an issue and include this error message and stacktrace:
+
+        #{e.message} #{e.backtrace}"
+      MSG
+
+      offense = Parsers::ParseResult.new(file: relative_file, message: message)
+      ProcessedFile.new(offenses: [offense])
     end
 
     private
diff --git a/test/integration/packwerk/custom_executable_integration_test.rb b/test/integration/packwerk/custom_executable_integration_test.rb
index a87500beb..2289a46fd 100644
--- a/test/integration/packwerk/custom_executable_integration_test.rb
+++ b/test/integration/packwerk/custom_executable_integration_test.rb
@@ -128,6 +128,29 @@ class CustomExecutableIntegrationTest < Minitest::Test
       end
     end
 
+    test "'packwerk check' does not blow up when parsing files with syntax issues from a false positive association" do
+      open_app_file(TIMELINE_PATH.join("app", "models", "bad_file.rb")) do |file|
+        # This is an example of a file that has an object called `belongs_to` that accepts methods
+        content = <<~CONTENT
+          belongs_to.some_method
+        CONTENT
+
+        file.write(content)
+        file.flush
+
+        refute_successful_run("check")
+
+        assert_match(/Packwerk is inspecting 13 files/, captured_output)
+        assert_match(%r{components/timeline/app/models/bad_file.rb}, captured_output)
+        assert_match(/Packwerk encountered an internal error/, captured_output)
+        assert_match(/For now, you can add this file to `packwerk.yml` `exclude` list./, captured_output)
+        assert_match(/Please file an issue and include this error message and stacktrace:/, captured_output)
+        assert_match(/Passed `nil` into T.must/, captured_output)
+        assert_match(/1 offense detected/, captured_output)
+        assert_match(/No stale violations detected/, captured_output)
+      end
+    end
+
     private
 
     def assert_successful_run(command)
diff --git a/test/unit/packwerk/file_processor_test.rb b/test/unit/packwerk/file_processor_test.rb
index 931a0bb7d..4b3b49821 100644
--- a/test/unit/packwerk/file_processor_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/packwerk/file_processor_test.rb
@@ -109,9 +109,14 @@ class FileProcessorTest < Minitest::Test
         )
       )
 
-      tempfile(name: "foo", content: "def error") do |file_path|
+      processed_file = tempfile(name: "foo", content: "def error") do |file_path|
         file_processor.call(file_path)
       end
+
+      assert_equal 0, processed_file.unresolved_references.count
+      offenses = processed_file.offenses
+      assert_equal 1, offenses.length
+      assert_equal "Syntax error: unexpected token $end", offenses.first.message
     end
 
     test "#call with a path that can't be parsed outputs error message" do