diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index 5869a28506..b92d4b012d 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
+unreleased
+==========
+
+  + merlin library
+    - occurrences: when looking for the occurrences of an identifier that was
+      renamed since the project was last built, report the files whose build
+      artifacts are out-of-sync with the sources in the status of the query,
+      instead of silently returning incomplete results. Clients performing a
+      rename can now detect that the occurrences of these files are missing.
+
 merlin 5.8.1
 ============
 Fri Jul 31 11:31:42 CEST 2026
diff --git a/src/analysis/occurrences.ml b/src/analysis/occurrences.ml
index 02da9e6e26..820d5a12e3 100644
--- a/src/analysis/occurrences.ml
+++ b/src/analysis/occurrences.ml
@@ -263,6 +263,15 @@ let lookup_related_uids_in_indexes ~(config : Mconfig.t) uid =
   |> Option.value_map ~default:[] ~f:(fun x ->
       x |> Union_find.get store |> Uid_set.elements)
 
+(* [find_linked_uids] returns the list of uids related to [uid] whose declaration is
+   named [name], together with the set of files declaring related uids under a
+   *different* name. Related uids link the declarations and the definitions of a same
+   identifier, so a name mismatch means that the build artifacts of these files are
+   out-of-sync with the sources. This may happen right after the identifier was renamed,
+   before the project was rebuilt: silently ignoring the mismatch results in an incomplete
+   list of occurrences, which is especially harmful when the client uses the result to perform
+   a rename. Reporting the files lets clients detect the incomplete result through the
+   [`Out_of_sync] status.*)
 let find_linked_uids ~config ~scope ~name uid =
   let title = "find_linked_uids" in
   match uid with
@@ -274,14 +283,15 @@ let find_linked_uids ~config ~scope ~name uid =
       Locate.lookup_uid_decl ~config uid
       |> Option.bind ~f:(Typedtree_utils.location_of_declaration ~uid)
       |> Option.value_map
-           ~f:(fun { Location.txt; _ } ->
-             let result = String.equal name txt in
-             if not result then
+           ~f:(fun { Location.txt; loc } ->
+             if String.equal name txt then `Name_matches
+             else begin
                log ~title "Found clashing idents %S <> %S. Ignoring UID %a."
                  name txt Logger.fmt
                  (Fun.flip Shape.Uid.print uid);
-             result)
-           ~default:false
+               `Name_clash loc.Location.loc_start.Lexing.pos_fname
+             end)
+           ~default:`Decl_not_found
     in
     let related_uids =
       match scope with
@@ -291,8 +301,17 @@ let find_linked_uids ~config ~scope ~name uid =
     in
     log ~title "Found related uids: [%a]" Logger.fmt (fun fmt ->
         List.iter ~f:(fprintf fmt "%a;" Shape.Uid.print) related_uids);
-    List.filter ~f:check_name related_uids
-  | _ -> []
+    let matching_uids, clashing_files =
+      List.fold_left related_uids ~init:([], String.Set.empty)
+        ~f:(fun (matching_uids, clashing_files) uid ->
+          match check_name uid with
+          | `Name_matches -> (uid :: matching_uids, clashing_files)
+          | `Name_clash file ->
+            (matching_uids, String.Set.add file clashing_files)
+          | `Decl_not_found -> (matching_uids, clashing_files))
+    in
+    (List.rev matching_uids, clashing_files)
+  | _ -> ([], String.Set.empty)
 
 let locs_of ~config ~env ~typer_result ~pos ~scope path =
   log ~title:"occurrences" "Looking for occurences of %s (pos: %s)" path
@@ -344,20 +363,23 @@ let locs_of ~config ~env ~typer_result ~pos ~scope path =
     let buffer_occurrences =
       Occurrence_set.of_filtered_lid_set buffer_locs ~f:(fun _ -> Some Fresh)
     in
-    let external_occurrences =
-      if scope = `Buffer then []
+    let external_occurrences, clashing_files =
+      if scope = `Buffer then ([], String.Set.empty)
       else
         let name =
           String.split_on_char ~sep:'.' path |> List.last |> Option.get
         in
-        let additional_uids = find_linked_uids ~config ~scope ~name def_uid in
-        List.concat_map
-          (def_uid :: additional_uids)
-          ~f:(get_external_locs ~config ~current_buffer_path)
+        let additional_uids, clashing_files =
+          find_linked_uids ~config ~scope ~name def_uid
+        in
+        ( List.concat_map
+            (def_uid :: additional_uids)
+            ~f:(get_external_locs ~config ~current_buffer_path),
+          clashing_files )
     in
     let external_occurrences, out_of_sync_files =
       List.fold_left
-        ~init:(Occurrence_set.empty, String.Set.empty)
+        ~init:(Occurrence_set.empty, clashing_files)
         ~f:(fun (acc_locs, acc_files) (locs, files) ->
           (Occurrence_set.union acc_locs locs, String.Set.union acc_files files))
         external_occurrences
diff --git a/tests/test-dirs/occurrences/project-wide/for-renaming/r-stale-after-rename.t b/tests/test-dirs/occurrences/project-wide/for-renaming/r-stale-after-rename.t
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..566feb9ff1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test-dirs/occurrences/project-wide/for-renaming/r-stale-after-rename.t
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+When a rename was applied to the sources but the project was not rebuilt yet,
+the index and the cmt files still associate the identifier's uids with the old
+name. Merlin then drops the related uids and can no longer find the
+occurrences outside of the current buffer. It reports the files whose
+artifacts are out-of-sync in the status of the query, so that clients can
+detect the incomplete result instead of performing a partial rename.
+
+Note that we deliberately rename [foo] to [bar] (same length) so that the
+index's stat-check cannot detect the modification: only the name check can.
+
+  $ cat >lib.mli <<'EOF'
+  > val foo : int
+  > EOF
+
+  $ cat >lib.ml <<'EOF'
+  > let foo = 42
+  > let _ = foo
+  > EOF
+
+  $ cat >main.ml <<'EOF'
+  > let () = print_int Lib.foo
+  > EOF
+
+  $ ocamlc -bin-annot -bin-annot-occurrences -c lib.mli lib.ml main.ml
+  $ ocaml-index aggregate lib.cmti lib.cmt main.cmt
+
+  $ locations () {
+  >   $MERLIN single occurrences -scope renaming -identifier-at 1:4 \
+  >   -index-file project.ocaml-index \
+  >   -filename lib.mli <lib.mli \
+  >   | jq -r '.value[] | "\(.file):\(.start.line):\(.start.col)"'
+  > }
+
+  $ show_incomplete () {
+  >   $MERLIN single occurrences -scope renaming -identifier-at 1:4 \
+  >   -index-file project.ocaml-index \
+  >   -log-file - -log-section occurrences \
+  >   -filename lib.mli <lib.mli 2>&1 | grep -o "Occurrences may be incomplete:.*"
+  > }
+
+With a fresh index, renaming [foo] from the interface finds the declaration,
+the definition and all usages, show_incomplete does not return anything
+  $ locations
+  $TESTCASE_ROOT/lib.mli:1:4
+  $TESTCASE_ROOT/lib.ml:1:4
+  $TESTCASE_ROOT/lib.ml:2:8
+  $TESTCASE_ROOT/main.ml:1:23
+  $ show_incomplete
+  [1]
+
+Apply the edits of renaming [foo] to [bar], without rebuilding:
+  $ cat >lib.mli <<'EOF'
+  > val bar : int
+  > EOF
+
+  $ cat >lib.ml <<'EOF'
+  > let bar = 42
+  > let _ = bar
+  > EOF
+
+  $ cat >main.ml <<'EOF'
+  > let () = print_int Lib.bar
+  > EOF
+
+Only the declaration of the current buffer is found
+  $ locations
+  $TESTCASE_ROOT/lib.mli:1:4
+  $ show_incomplete
+  Occurrences may be incomplete: some source files are out-of-sync with the index: lib.mli, lib.ml
+
+After rebuilding, renaming from the interface works again:
+  $ ocamlc -bin-annot -bin-annot-occurrences -c lib.mli lib.ml main.ml
+  $ ocaml-index aggregate lib.cmti lib.cmt main.cmt
+  $ locations
+  $TESTCASE_ROOT/lib.mli:1:4
+  $TESTCASE_ROOT/lib.ml:1:4
+  $TESTCASE_ROOT/lib.ml:2:8
+  $TESTCASE_ROOT/main.ml:1:23
+  $ show_incomplete
+  [1]