diff --git a/crates/uv-dispatch/src/lib.rs b/crates/uv-dispatch/src/lib.rs
index 083a874161642..de6821ca157a9 100644
--- a/crates/uv-dispatch/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/uv-dispatch/src/lib.rs
@@ -182,8 +182,7 @@ impl<'a> BuildContext for BuildDispatch<'a> {
             let tags = self.interpreter.tags()?;
 
             // Determine the set of installed packages.
-            let site_packages =
-                SitePackages::from_executable(venv).context("Failed to list installed packages")?;
+            let site_packages = SitePackages::from_executable(venv)?;
 
             let Plan {
                 local,
diff --git a/crates/uv-installer/src/site_packages.rs b/crates/uv-installer/src/site_packages.rs
index 9de913278bb00..ceb430e95e4b9 100644
--- a/crates/uv-installer/src/site_packages.rs
+++ b/crates/uv-installer/src/site_packages.rs
@@ -42,8 +42,22 @@ impl<'a> SitePackages<'a> {
         let mut by_name = FxHashMap::default();
         let mut by_url = FxHashMap::default();
 
+        // Read the site-packages directory.
+        let site_packages = match fs::read_dir(venv.site_packages()) {
+            Ok(site_packages) => site_packages,
+            Err(err) if err.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::NotFound => {
+                return Ok(Self {
+                    venv,
+                    distributions,
+                    by_name,
+                    by_url,
+                });
+            }
+            Err(err) => return Err(err).context("Failed to read site-packages directory"),
+        };
+
         // Index all installed packages by name.
-        for entry in fs::read_dir(venv.site_packages())? {
+        for entry in site_packages {
             let entry = entry?;
             if entry.file_type()?.is_dir() {
                 let path = entry.path();
diff --git a/crates/uv/src/commands/pip_install.rs b/crates/uv/src/commands/pip_install.rs
index 5e32509841312..f98442c0b76cc 100644
--- a/crates/uv/src/commands/pip_install.rs
+++ b/crates/uv/src/commands/pip_install.rs
@@ -143,8 +143,7 @@ pub(crate) async fn pip_install(
     let _lock = venv.lock()?;
 
     // Determine the set of installed packages.
-    let site_packages =
-        SitePackages::from_executable(&venv).context("Failed to list installed packages")?;
+    let site_packages = SitePackages::from_executable(&venv)?;
 
     // If the requirements are already satisfied, we're done. Ideally, the resolver would be fast
     // enough to let us remove this check. But right now, for large environments, it's an order of
diff --git a/crates/uv/src/commands/pip_sync.rs b/crates/uv/src/commands/pip_sync.rs
index abe755e39266f..f073f6478cbdd 100644
--- a/crates/uv/src/commands/pip_sync.rs
+++ b/crates/uv/src/commands/pip_sync.rs
@@ -157,8 +157,7 @@ pub(crate) async fn pip_sync(
     );
 
     // Determine the set of installed packages.
-    let site_packages =
-        SitePackages::from_executable(&venv).context("Failed to list installed packages")?;
+    let site_packages = SitePackages::from_executable(&venv)?;
 
     // Resolve any editables.
     let resolved_editables = resolve_editables(