diff --git a/docs/51-supported-versions.md b/docs/51-supported-versions.md
index fef07b562..57ea29b0b 100644
--- a/docs/51-supported-versions.md
+++ b/docs/51-supported-versions.md
@@ -113,7 +113,10 @@ mcpp emit sbom -o sbom.json
 It reads `mcpp.lock` rather than resolving again, because a document describing
 a different graph from the one that was built is worse than no document. A
 component whose licence mcpp does not know is emitted as `NOASSERTION` rather
-than omitted: an absent field reads as "not examined".
+than omitted: an absent field reads as "not examined". With no `mcpp.lock` the
+document names the root package alone, and a note on standard error says that
+nothing is recorded: that is the whole truth for a project with no dependencies,
+and not for one that has never been built.
 
 ## Offline and air-gapped use
 
diff --git a/docs/zh/51-supported-versions.md b/docs/zh/51-supported-versions.md
index aefe888fb..aaf6a404a 100644
--- a/docs/zh/51-supported-versions.md
+++ b/docs/zh/51-supported-versions.md
@@ -97,7 +97,8 @@ mcpp emit sbom -o sbom.json
 
 它读取 `mcpp.lock` 而不是重新解析，因为一份描述了与实际构建不同的依赖图的
 文档，比没有文档更糟。许可证 mcpp 无法识别的组件会被写成 `NOASSERTION` 而不是
-省略：缺失的字段读起来像「未检查」。
+省略：缺失的字段读起来像「未检查」。没有 `mcpp.lock` 时，文档只列出根包，并在标准
+错误上提示没有任何记录：这对没有依赖的工程是全部事实，对从未构建过的工程则不是。
 
 ## 离线与隔网使用
 
diff --git a/src/build/prepare/records.cpp b/src/build/prepare/records.cpp
index aea64a660..5ec032291 100644
--- a/src/build/prepare/records.cpp
+++ b/src/build/prepare/records.cpp
@@ -426,8 +426,10 @@ std::expected<void, std::string> step13_lockfile(PrepareState& state, BuildConte
             // true and useless; which package moved, from which version to
             // which, is what the reader does something about.
             if (mcpp::invocation::get("MCPP_LOCKED").value_or("") == "1") {
+                // `load` reads a missing file as an empty lock, which would
+                // report every package as drift from a file that is not there.
                 auto prior = mcpp::lockfile::load(lockPath);
-                if (!prior) {
+                if (!prior || !std::filesystem::exists(lockPath)) {
                     return std::unexpected(std::format(
                         "--locked was given and there is no readable mcpp.lock at {}\n"
                         "       Run the same command without --locked once to record "
diff --git a/src/cli/cmd_sbom.cppm b/src/cli/cmd_sbom.cppm
index ad37d59df..1867990b9 100644
--- a/src/cli/cmd_sbom.cppm
+++ b/src/cli/cmd_sbom.cppm
@@ -102,12 +102,16 @@ int cmd_sbom(const mcpplibs::cmdline::ParsedArgs& parsed) {
 
     const auto lockPath = *root / "mcpp.lock";
     std::vector<mcpp::lockfile::LockedPackage> pkgs;
-    if (auto lock = mcpp::lockfile::load(lockPath)) {
+    // Asked before loading: `load` reads a file that is not there as an empty
+    // lock, so its answer cannot tell "nothing recorded" from "no dependencies".
+    if (std::filesystem::exists(lockPath)) {
+        auto lock = mcpp::lockfile::load(lockPath);
+        if (!lock) {
+            mcpp::ui::error(std::format(
+                "mcpp.lock exists but could not be read: {}", lock.error().message));
+            return 2;
+        }
         pkgs = lock->packages;
-    } else if (std::filesystem::exists(lockPath)) {
-        mcpp::ui::error(std::format(
-            "mcpp.lock exists but could not be read: {}", lock.error().message));
-        return 2;
     } else {
         // NOT AN ERROR, AND NOT SILENCE EITHER. A project with no
         // dependencies has no lock and its bill of materials is one component,
diff --git a/tests/e2e/333_named_runners_locked_and_sbom.sh b/tests/e2e/333_named_runners_locked_and_sbom.sh
index 2b658805d..7efedbc41 100755
--- a/tests/e2e/333_named_runners_locked_and_sbom.sh
+++ b/tests/e2e/333_named_runners_locked_and_sbom.sh
@@ -101,6 +101,21 @@ esac
 echo "  ok  --locked names the package that moved and both versions"
 mv mcpp.lock.bak mcpp.lock
 
+# A LOCK THAT IS NOT THERE IS NOT A LOCK THAT DIFFERS. The refusal says what to
+# do about it, and writes no lock for the next run to pass against.
+mv mcpp.lock mcpp.lock.bak
+if out=$("$MCPP" build --locked 2>&1); then
+    echo "FAIL: --locked accepted a project with no mcpp.lock"
+    echo "$out" | tail -3; exit 1
+fi
+case "$out" in
+    *"no readable mcpp.lock"*) ;;
+    *) echo "FAIL: the refusal does not say the lock is missing"; echo "$out"; exit 1 ;;
+esac
+test ! -e mcpp.lock || { echo "FAIL: a refused --locked wrote mcpp.lock"; exit 1; }
+mv mcpp.lock.bak mcpp.lock
+echo "  ok  --locked says a missing lock is missing"
+
 # ── E: the bill of materials describes the RECORDED resolution ─────────────
 "$MCPP" emit sbom -o sbom.json >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "FAIL: mcpp emit sbom"; exit 1; }
 python3 - <<'PY' || exit 1
@@ -135,6 +150,18 @@ print("  ok  sbom reads the lock rather than re-resolving")
 PY
 mv mcpp.lock.bak mcpp.lock
 
+# NOTHING RECORDED IS SAID ON THE NARRATION STREAM, AND THE DOCUMENT STAYS VALID.
+# A root-only bill of materials is true of a project with no dependencies and
+# false of one that was never built, and only the reader knows which this is.
+mv mcpp.lock mcpp.lock.bak
+"$MCPP" emit sbom > sbom3.json 2> sbom3.err || { echo "FAIL: mcpp emit sbom with no lock"; exit 1; }
+grep -q 'no mcpp.lock' sbom3.err \
+    || { echo "FAIL: sbom did not say that nothing was recorded"; cat sbom3.err; exit 1; }
+python3 -c 'import json; assert json.load(open("sbom3.json"))["components"] == []' \
+    || { echo "FAIL: sbom with no lock is not a root-only document"; exit 1; }
+mv mcpp.lock.bak mcpp.lock
+echo "  ok  sbom says when no lock records the resolution"
+
 # ── B: one board package, two environments, chosen by the consumer ─────────
 #
 # THE EMULATOR/HARDWARE AXIS IS A FEATURE, NOT A FORK. A board reached