diff --git a/local/build-all.R b/local/build-all.R
index c4d7f97..eda92e9 100644
--- a/local/build-all.R
+++ b/local/build-all.R
@@ -189,8 +189,42 @@ sprintf(
 # Read pre-computed S3 listing from install-deps step
 # This avoids loading s3fs/reticulate/Python in the build container,
 # saving significant memory for the dependency-installer subprocesses
-s3_cache <- readRDS("/mnt/cache/packages/s3_cache.rds")
-sprintf("S3 cache: %s files", length(s3_cache))
+s3_cache_paths <- readRDS("/mnt/cache/packages/s3_cache.rds")
+
+# The cache is stored as paths relative to the slot, so a pass can select the
+# objects that belong to it. `build_binary_package()` compares basenames, which
+# cannot distinguish `4.4/curl_1.0.tar.gz` from `curl_1.0.tar.gz`, so the choice
+# has to be made here where the running R minor is known.
+#
+# Getting this wrong is expensive in both directions: hand it everything and a
+# per-minor pass believes the flat slot's binaries are its own and builds
+# nothing; hand it nothing and it rebuilds what it already has. amd64/resolute
+# recompiled 8683 packages that way.
+select_cache_for_pass <- function(paths, sensitive_only, r_minor) {
+  # A cache written before this change holds bare basenames. Filtering those by
+  # path would select nothing and trigger a full rebuild, so use them as they
+  # are; #190's staleness check replaces it on the next pipeline anyway.
+  if (!any(grepl("/", paths, fixed = TRUE))) {
+    message("S3 cache is in the legacy basename format; using it unfiltered.")
+    return(paths)
+  }
+  in_minor <- grepl(sprintf("^%s/", r_minor), paths)
+  if (sensitive_only) {
+    basename(paths[in_minor])
+  } else {
+    # The primary pass writes the flat slot. Archive/ counts as present there:
+    # those are versions built and later superseded.
+    basename(paths[!grepl("^[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+/", paths)])
+  }
+}
+
+s3_cache <- select_cache_for_pass(s3_cache_paths, sensitive_only, r_minor)
+sprintf(
+  "S3 cache: %s files (%s of %s objects apply to this pass)",
+  length(s3_cache),
+  length(s3_cache),
+  length(s3_cache_paths)
+)
 
 n <- nrow(chunk)
 mapply(
diff --git a/local/packages-to-build.R b/local/packages-to-build.R
index 9cc1ed6..64a2f5f 100644
--- a/local/packages-to-build.R
+++ b/local/packages-to-build.R
@@ -176,6 +176,28 @@ source_served <- tryCatch(
 )
 
 binary_cache <- setdiff(file_names, source_served)
+
+# The existence cache and the candidate list need different views of the same
+# listing, and conflating them is what made this wrong in both directions.
+#
+# The candidate list must ignore per-minor objects, or a package present under
+# one minor prunes itself from every other minor's work (#189). The existence
+# cache must NOT ignore them, or `build_binary_package()` is told nothing is
+# present under any minor and recompiles the lot: amd64/resolute recompiled
+# 8683 packages it had already built, reporting "already exists in S3" three
+# times.
+#
+# So the cache keeps the path relative to the slot, and `build-all.R` selects
+# the part that matches the pass it is running: the flat slot for the primary,
+# `<minor>/` for a per-minor pass.
+contrib_prefix <- sprintf(
+  "devxy-rpkgs-binaries/%s/%s/latest/src/contrib/",
+  arch,
+  codename
+)
+relative_paths <- sub(contrib_prefix, "", s3_pkgs, fixed = TRUE)
+source_basenames <- source_served
+existence_cache <- relative_paths[!basename(relative_paths) %in% source_basenames]
 cat(sprintf(
   "S3 cache: %d objects, %d served as CRAN source, %d usable binaries\n",
   length(file_names),
@@ -186,7 +208,7 @@ cat(sprintf(
 # Save the S3 file listing for the build step to use as s3_package_cache.
 # This avoids loading s3fs/reticulate in the build container, saving memory for
 # the dependency-installer subprocesses
-saveRDS(binary_cache, "/mnt/cache/packages/s3_cache.rds")
+saveRDS(existence_cache, "/mnt/cache/packages/s3_cache.rds")
 # Built from the filtered listing, not the raw one: `s3_dt` is subtracted from
 # the build list below, so a source fallback left in here would exclude the very
 # package that needs building.