diff --git a/Source/DafnyCore/DafnyMain.cs b/Source/DafnyCore/DafnyMain.cs
index 1ba0a18d7b5..ced6f1caedc 100644
--- a/Source/DafnyCore/DafnyMain.cs
+++ b/Source/DafnyCore/DafnyMain.cs
@@ -78,6 +78,9 @@ public DafnyFile(string filePath, bool useStdin = false) {
     }
 
     private static string GetDafnySourceAttributeText(string dllPath) {
+      if (!File.Exists(dllPath)) {
+        throw new IllegalDafnyFile();
+      }
       using var dllFs = new FileStream(dllPath, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.ReadWrite);
       using var dllPeReader = new PEReader(dllFs);
       var dllMetadataReader = dllPeReader.GetMetadataReader();
diff --git a/Source/DafnyDriver/DafnyDriver.cs b/Source/DafnyDriver/DafnyDriver.cs
index 1a32b7bd73e..775bbccd3cb 100644
--- a/Source/DafnyDriver/DafnyDriver.cs
+++ b/Source/DafnyDriver/DafnyDriver.cs
@@ -259,7 +259,13 @@ public static CommandLineArgumentsResult ProcessCommandLineArguments(string[] ar
 
         var supportedExtensions = options.Compiler.SupportedExtensions;
         if (supportedExtensions.Contains(extension)) {
-          otherFiles.Add(file);
+          // .h files are not part of the build, they are just emitted as includes
+          if (File.Exists(file) || extension == ".h") {
+            otherFiles.Add(file);
+          } else {
+            options.Printer.ErrorWriteLine(Console.Out, $"*** Error: file {file} not found");
+            return CommandLineArgumentsResult.PREPROCESSING_ERROR;
+          }
         } else if (!isDafnyFile) {
           if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(extension) && file.Length > 0 && (file[0] == '/' || file[0] == '-')) {
             options.Printer.ErrorWriteLine(Console.Out,
diff --git a/Test/git-issues/git-issue-2719.dfy b/Test/git-issues/git-issue-2719.dfy
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..672b7cb90cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Test/git-issues/git-issue-2719.dfy
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+// RUN: %exits-with 1 %baredafny foobar.dll "%s" > "%t"
+// RUN: %diff "%s.expect" "%t"
diff --git a/Test/git-issues/git-issue-2719.dfy.expect b/Test/git-issues/git-issue-2719.dfy.expect
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1f8b85a60e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Test/git-issues/git-issue-2719.dfy.expect
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+*** Error: file foobar.dll not found
diff --git a/Test/git-issues/git-issue-590.dfy.expect b/Test/git-issues/git-issue-590.dfy.expect
index b552c99f434..6cb7056f22b 100644
--- a/Test/git-issues/git-issue-590.dfy.expect
+++ b/Test/git-issues/git-issue-590.dfy.expect
@@ -1 +1 @@
-*** Error: The command-line contains no .dfy files
+*** Error: file x.cs not found
diff --git a/docs/dev/news/2719.fix b/docs/dev/news/2719.fix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7b59a02c835
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/dev/news/2719.fix
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Nonexistent files passed on the CLI result in a graceful exit