diff --git a/packages/astro/src/cli/build/index.ts b/packages/astro/src/cli/build/index.ts
index 15ff584317d9..63c2f0d0e1c5 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/cli/build/index.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/cli/build/index.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@ export async function build({ flags }: BuildOptions) {
 			tables: {
 				Flags: [
 					['--outDir <directory>', `Specify the output directory for the build.`],
+					[
+						'--force',
+						'Clear the content layer and content collection cache, forcing a full rebuild.',
+					],
 					['--help (-h)', 'See all available flags.'],
 				],
 			},
diff --git a/packages/astro/src/core/build/index.ts b/packages/astro/src/core/build/index.ts
index 9989c01548ae..a55667c421dd 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/core/build/index.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/core/build/index.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import type {
 	RuntimeMode,
 } from '../../@types/astro.js';
 import { injectImageEndpoint } from '../../assets/endpoint/config.js';
+import { DATA_STORE_FILE } from '../../content/consts.js';
 import { telemetry } from '../../events/index.js';
 import { eventCliSession } from '../../events/session.js';
 import {
@@ -67,12 +68,20 @@ export default async function build(
 	const logger = createNodeLogger(inlineConfig);
 	const { userConfig, astroConfig } = await resolveConfig(inlineConfig, 'build');
 	telemetry.record(eventCliSession('build', userConfig));
-	if (astroConfig.experimental.contentCollectionCache && options.force) {
-		const contentCacheDir = new URL('./content/', astroConfig.cacheDir);
-		if (fs.existsSync(contentCacheDir)) {
-			logger.debug('content', 'clearing content cache');
-			await fs.promises.rm(contentCacheDir, { force: true, recursive: true });
-			logger.warn('content', 'content cache cleared (force)');
+	if (options.force) {
+		if (astroConfig.experimental.contentCollectionCache) {
+			const contentCacheDir = new URL('./content/', astroConfig.cacheDir);
+			if (fs.existsSync(contentCacheDir)) {
+				logger.debug('content', 'clearing content cache');
+				await fs.promises.rm(contentCacheDir, { force: true, recursive: true });
+				logger.warn('content', 'content cache cleared (force)');
+			}
+		}
+		const dataStore = new URL(DATA_STORE_FILE, astroConfig.cacheDir);
+		if (fs.existsSync(dataStore)) {
+			logger.debug('content', 'clearing data store');
+			await fs.promises.rm(dataStore, { force: true });
+			logger.warn('content', 'data store cleared (force)');
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/packages/astro/test/content-layer.test.js b/packages/astro/test/content-layer.test.js
index e7b607a8c574..be856ba4d3f0 100644
--- a/packages/astro/test/content-layer.test.js
+++ b/packages/astro/test/content-layer.test.js
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ describe('Content Layer', () => {
 			await fs
 				.unlink(new URL('./node_modules/.astro/data-store.json', fixture.config.root))
 				.catch(() => {});
-			await fixture.build({});
+			await fixture.build();
 			const rawJson = await fixture.readFile('/collections.json');
 			json = JSON.parse(rawJson);
 		});
@@ -133,6 +133,21 @@ describe('Content Layer', () => {
 				id: 'tabby',
 			});
 		});
+
+		it('updates the store on new builds', async () => {
+			assert.equal(json.increment.data.lastValue, 1);
+			await fixture.build();
+			const newJson = JSON.parse(await fixture.readFile('/collections.json'));
+			assert.equal(newJson.increment.data.lastValue, 2);
+		});
+
+		it('clears the store on new build with force flag', async () => {
+			let newJson = JSON.parse(await fixture.readFile('/collections.json'));
+			assert.equal(newJson.increment.data.lastValue, 2);
+			await fixture.build({}, { force: true });
+			newJson = JSON.parse(await fixture.readFile('/collections.json'));
+			assert.equal(newJson.increment.data.lastValue, 1);
+		});
 	});
 
 	describe('Dev', () => {
diff --git a/packages/astro/test/fixtures/content-layer/src/content/config.ts b/packages/astro/test/fixtures/content-layer/src/content/config.ts
index 38b6bc52644f..fd9dd5ad7c9a 100644
--- a/packages/astro/test/fixtures/content-layer/src/content/config.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/test/fixtures/content-layer/src/content/config.ts
@@ -69,21 +69,21 @@ const cats = defineCollection({
 	}),
 });
 
-
 // Absolute paths should also work
 const absoluteRoot = new URL('../../content-outside-src', import.meta.url);
 
 const spacecraft = defineCollection({
 	type: 'experimental_content',
 	loader: glob({ pattern: '*.md', base: absoluteRoot }),
-	schema: ({ image }) => z.object({
-		title: z.string(),
-		description: z.string(),
-		publishedDate: z.string(),
-		tags: z.array(z.string()),
-		heroImage: image().optional(),
-		cat: reference('cats').optional(),
-	}),
+	schema: ({ image }) =>
+		z.object({
+			title: z.string(),
+			description: z.string(),
+			publishedDate: z.string(),
+			tags: z.array(z.string()),
+			heroImage: image().optional(),
+			cat: reference('cats').optional(),
+		}),
 });
 
 const numbers = defineCollection({
@@ -91,4 +91,24 @@ const numbers = defineCollection({
 	loader: glob({ pattern: 'src/data/glob-data/*', base: '.' }),
 });
 
-export const collections = { blog, dogs, cats, numbers, spacecraft };
+const increment = defineCollection({
+	type: 'experimental_data',
+	loader: {
+		name: 'increment-loader',
+		load: async ({ store }) => {
+			const entry = store.get<{ lastValue: number }>('value');
+			const lastValue: number = entry?.data.lastValue ?? 0;
+			store.set({
+				id: 'value',
+				data: {
+					lastValue: lastValue + 1,
+				},
+			});
+		},
+	},
+	schema: z.object({
+		lastValue: z.number(),
+	}),
+});
+
+export const collections = { blog, dogs, cats, numbers, spacecraft, increment };
diff --git a/packages/astro/test/fixtures/content-layer/src/pages/collections.json.js b/packages/astro/test/fixtures/content-layer/src/pages/collections.json.js
index 43e4df23005c..618377dae4ff 100644
--- a/packages/astro/test/fixtures/content-layer/src/pages/collections.json.js
+++ b/packages/astro/test/fixtures/content-layer/src/pages/collections.json.js
@@ -11,5 +11,7 @@ export async function GET() {
 	const entryWithReference = await getEntry('spacecraft', 'columbia-copy')
 	const referencedEntry = await getEntry(entryWithReference.data.cat)
 
-	return Response.json({ customLoader, fileLoader, dataEntry, simpleLoader, entryWithReference, referencedEntry });
+	const increment = await getEntry('increment', 'value')
+
+	return Response.json({ customLoader, fileLoader, dataEntry, simpleLoader, entryWithReference, referencedEntry, increment });
 }
diff --git a/packages/astro/test/test-utils.js b/packages/astro/test/test-utils.js
index acb2f1e5cba0..d3cdb30d2527 100644
--- a/packages/astro/test/test-utils.js
+++ b/packages/astro/test/test-utils.js
@@ -157,9 +157,12 @@ export async function loadFixture(inlineConfig) {
 	let devServer;
 
 	return {
-		build: async (extraInlineConfig = {}) => {
+		build: async (extraInlineConfig = {}, options = {}) => {
 			process.env.NODE_ENV = 'production';
-			return build(mergeConfig(inlineConfig, extraInlineConfig), { teardownCompiler: false });
+			return build(mergeConfig(inlineConfig, extraInlineConfig), {
+				teardownCompiler: false,
+				...options,
+			});
 		},
 		sync,
 		check: async (opts) => {