diff --git a/src/artifacts/RegularFileAdmission.test.ts b/src/artifacts/RegularFileAdmission.test.ts
index 17926799a..97f61fc34 100644
--- a/src/artifacts/RegularFileAdmission.test.ts
+++ b/src/artifacts/RegularFileAdmission.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import type { BigIntStats, Stats } from "node:fs";
 import type { FileHandle } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
 import { afterEach, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 
 import {
@@ -88,3 +89,36 @@ it("compares available nanosecond timestamps without rounding away source change
     sameRegularFileState(before, { ...before, ctimeNs: before.ctimeNs + 1n }),
   ).toBe(false);
 });
+
+it.each([
+  ["EACCES", -13, "keeps"],
+  ["ENXIO", -6, "reclassifies"],
+] as const)(
+  "%s from opening a non-regular path: admission %s the failure",
+  async (code, errno, outcome) => {
+    const failure = Object.assign(new Error(`open ${code}`), { code, errno });
+    mockOpen.mockRejectedValue(failure);
+    // The selected path itself is a directory that stat can still describe.
+    const cause = await openRegularFile(tmpdir(), { symlinks: "follow" }).catch(
+      (rejected: unknown) => rejected,
+    );
+    if (outcome === "keeps") expect(cause).toBe(failure);
+    else expect(cause).toBeInstanceOf(NonRegularFileReadError);
+  },
+);
+
+it("keeps cancellation that arrives during the non-regular metadata probe", async () => {
+  const controller = new AbortController();
+  const cancellation = new Error("cancelled during probe");
+  mockOpen.mockImplementation(async () => {
+    // The probe stats the path after this rejection; abort before it settles.
+    queueMicrotask(() => controller.abort(cancellation));
+    throw Object.assign(new Error("open ENXIO"), { code: "ENXIO", errno: -6 });
+  });
+  await expect(
+    openRegularFile(tmpdir(), {
+      symlinks: "follow",
+      signal: controller.signal,
+    }),
+  ).rejects.toBe(cancellation);
+});
diff --git a/src/filesystem/RegularFile.ts b/src/filesystem/RegularFile.ts
index 4942e2e46..47fdfa1d8 100644
--- a/src/filesystem/RegularFile.ts
+++ b/src/filesystem/RegularFile.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { constants } from "node:fs";
+import { constants as osConstants } from "node:os";
 import type { BigIntStats, Stats } from "node:fs";
-import { lstat, open, type FileHandle } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { lstat, open, stat, type FileHandle } from "node:fs/promises";
 
 import { OwnedFileHandle } from "./OwnedFileHandle.js";
 
@@ -66,7 +67,17 @@ export const openRegularFile = async (
       (constants.O_NONBLOCK ?? 0) |
       (constants.O_NOCTTY ?? 0) |
       (options.symlinks === "reject" ? (constants.O_NOFOLLOW ?? 0) : 0),
-  );
+  ).catch(async (cause: unknown) => {
+    const nonRegular = await nonRegularOpenFailure(
+      path,
+      options.symlinks,
+      cause,
+    );
+    if (nonRegular === undefined) throw cause;
+    // Cancellation during the metadata probe outranks the reclassification.
+    options.signal?.throwIfAborted();
+    throw nonRegular;
+  });
   const owner = new OwnedFileHandle(handle);
   try {
     options.signal?.throwIfAborted();
@@ -95,6 +106,41 @@ export const openRegularFile = async (
   }
 };
 
+/**
+ * Some non-regular files cannot be opened at all: a Unix socket fails with
+ * ENXIO on Linux and EOPNOTSUPP on macOS. Confirm such a failure against the
+ * path's own metadata before reporting a non-regular selection.
+ */
+const nonRegularOpenFailure = async (
+  path: string,
+  symlinks: "follow" | "reject",
+  cause: unknown,
+): Promise<NonRegularFileReadError | undefined> => {
+  // Only errors meaning "this file type cannot be opened" are reclassified;
+  // permission, symlink-rejection and resource failures keep their codes.
+  if (!isUnopenableFileTypeError(cause)) return undefined;
+  const metadata = await (symlinks === "reject" ? lstat : stat)(path).catch(
+    () => undefined,
+  );
+  if (metadata === undefined || metadata.isFile()) return undefined;
+  return new NonRegularFileReadError(path, metadata.isDirectory());
+};
+
+// Match by errno: libuv has no name for macOS EOPNOTSUPP (102) and reports
+// "Unknown system error -102" as its code.
+const errnos: Partial<Record<string, number>> = osConstants.errno;
+const UNOPENABLE_FILE_TYPE_ERRNOS: ReadonlySet<number> = new Set(
+  [errnos.ENXIO, errnos.EOPNOTSUPP, errnos.ENOTSUP].flatMap((errno) =>
+    errno === undefined ? [] : [-errno],
+  ),
+);
+
+const isUnopenableFileTypeError = (cause: unknown): boolean =>
+  cause instanceof Error &&
+  "errno" in cause &&
+  typeof cause.errno === "number" &&
+  UNOPENABLE_FILE_TYPE_ERRNOS.has(cause.errno);
+
 /** Compare one regular file's identity and mutable metadata across a read. */
 export const sameRegularFileState = (
   expected: Stats | BigIntStats,
diff --git a/src/flutter/FlutterBuildProvider.ts b/src/flutter/FlutterBuildProvider.ts
index 9a6e6fe50..ea5d56025 100644
--- a/src/flutter/FlutterBuildProvider.ts
+++ b/src/flutter/FlutterBuildProvider.ts
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ import {
 import { ZipArtifactReader } from "../artifacts/ZipArtifactReader.js";
 import { OwnedFileHandle } from "../filesystem/OwnedFileHandle.js";
 import {
+  NonRegularFileReadError,
   openRegularFile,
   RegularFileAdmissionFailure,
   sameRegularFileState,
@@ -181,16 +182,29 @@ const mapInputFailure = (
       { max_metadata_read_bytes: APK_METADATA_READ_MAX_BYTES },
       { cause },
     );
-  const message = cause instanceof Error ? cause.message : String(cause);
   return new AnalysisInputError(operation, { cause }, [
     {
       path: ["path"],
       reason: "invalid_format",
-      message: `The APK could not be read as a package: ${path}: ${message}`,
+      message: inputFailureMessage(path, cause),
     },
   ]);
 };
 
+/** Name a missing or non-file selection instead of blaming package bytes. */
+const inputFailureMessage = (path: string, cause: unknown): string => {
+  if (
+    cause instanceof Error &&
+    "code" in cause &&
+    (cause.code === "ENOENT" || cause.code === "ENOTDIR")
+  )
+    return `Selected APK does not exist: ${path}`;
+  if (cause instanceof NonRegularFileReadError)
+    return `Selected APK is not a regular file: ${path}`;
+  const message = cause instanceof Error ? cause.message : String(cause);
+  return `The APK could not be read as a package: ${path}: ${message}`;
+};
+
 /** Provider-owned storage failures must never be attributed to caller input. */
 const mapOwnedIoFailure = (
   operation: string,
diff --git a/tests/boundary/filesystem/flutterBuildProvider.test.ts b/tests/boundary/filesystem/flutterBuildProvider.test.ts
index 4a1c8248f..68e0328c4 100644
--- a/tests/boundary/filesystem/flutterBuildProvider.test.ts
+++ b/tests/boundary/filesystem/flutterBuildProvider.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { createReadStream } from "node:fs";
 import { open, readFile, rm, stat, utimes, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { createServer } from "node:net";
 import { join } from "node:path";
 import { Readable } from "node:stream";
 import { Uint8ArrayReader, Uint8ArrayWriter, ZipWriter } from "@zip.js/zip.js";
@@ -1171,6 +1172,69 @@ it.each(["identify_flutter_build", "inspect_dart_aot"] as const)(
   },
 );
 
+const expectSelectionIssue = async (
+  provider: FlutterBuildProvider,
+  path: string,
+  message: string,
+): Promise<void> => {
+  for (const operation of [
+    "identify_flutter_build",
+    "inspect_dart_aot",
+  ] as const) {
+    const result = await provider.execute({ operation, input: { path } });
+    if (result.ok) throw new Error("A non-file APK selection must fail");
+    expect(projectAnalysisError(result.error)).toMatchObject({
+      code: "invalid_request",
+      details: {
+        issues: [
+          {
+            path: ["path"],
+            reason: "invalid_format",
+            message: `${message}: ${path}`,
+          },
+        ],
+      },
+    });
+  }
+};
+
+it("names a missing or non-file APK selection instead of blaming package bytes", async () => {
+  const root = await createTestTempDirectory("rea-flutter-selection-");
+  const provider = new FlutterBuildProvider();
+  onTestFinished(() => provider.close());
+  await expectSelectionIssue(
+    provider,
+    join(root, "absent.apk"),
+    "Selected APK does not exist",
+  );
+  await expectSelectionIssue(
+    provider,
+    root,
+    "Selected APK is not a regular file",
+  );
+});
+
+// Windows listens on named pipes rather than filesystem sockets.
+it.skipIf(process.platform === "win32")(
+  "names an unopenable Unix socket APK selection as a non-file",
+  async () => {
+    const root = await createTestTempDirectory("rea-flutter-socket-");
+    const socketPath = join(root, "s.sock");
+    const socket = createServer();
+    await new Promise<void>((resolve) => socket.listen(socketPath, resolve));
+    onTestFinished(
+      () => new Promise<void>((resolve) => socket.close(() => resolve())),
+    );
+    const provider = new FlutterBuildProvider();
+    onTestFinished(() => provider.close());
+    await expectSelectionIssue(
+      provider,
+      socketPath,
+      "Selected APK is not a regular file",
+    );
+  },
+);
+
 it.each(["EACCES", "EPERM"] as const)(
   "preserves %s at the shared source admission boundary",
   async (code) => {