diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index f07fc05..5f97468 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ today) with lint, fmt, fmt-check, check, and hooks targets.
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+* 2026-10-06: `check --continue` keeps going past a file or directory
+    it cannot read: it counts it as failed, prints the error and the
+    path on stderr, and checks the rest of the tree
 * 2026-10-05: `make try` runs on three small files in a temporary
     directory that it removes afterwards, also when a step fails,
     instead of on a fixed directory on one person's machine
diff --git a/attrsum.go b/attrsum.go
index fce1043..a94527f 100644
--- a/attrsum.go
+++ b/attrsum.go
@@ -259,7 +259,7 @@ func newSumCmd(opts *options) *cobra.Command {
 }
 
 func processSumAdd(opts *options, dir string, stats *Stats, bar *progressbar.ProgressBar) error {
-	return walkAndProcess(opts, dir, stats, bar, func(p string, info os.FileInfo, s *Stats) error {
+	return walkAndProcess(opts, dir, false, stats, bar, func(p string, info os.FileInfo, s *Stats) error {
 		if hasXattr(p, checksumKey) {
 			atomic.AddInt64(&s.FilesSkipped, 1)
 
@@ -278,7 +278,7 @@ func processSumAdd(opts *options, dir string, stats *Stats, bar *progressbar.Pro
 }
 
 func processSumUpdate(opts *options, dir string, stats *Stats, bar *progressbar.ProgressBar) error {
-	return walkAndProcess(opts, dir, stats, bar, func(p string, info os.FileInfo, s *Stats) error {
+	return walkAndProcess(opts, dir, false, stats, bar, func(p string, info os.FileInfo, s *Stats) error {
 		t, err := readSumTime(p)
 		if err != nil || info.ModTime().After(t) {
 			werr := writeChecksumAndTime(opts, p, info, s)
@@ -369,7 +369,7 @@ func newClearCmd(opts *options) *cobra.Command {
 }
 
 func processClear(opts *options, dir string, stats *Stats, bar *progressbar.ProgressBar) error {
-	return walkAndProcess(opts, dir, stats, bar, func(p string, info os.FileInfo, s *Stats) error {
+	return walkAndProcess(opts, dir, false, stats, bar, func(p string, info os.FileInfo, s *Stats) error {
 		cleared, err := clearOne(opts, p)
 		if err != nil {
 			atomic.AddInt64(&s.FilesFailed, 1)
@@ -449,8 +449,10 @@ func runCheck(opts *options, args []string, cont bool) error {
 	var bar *progressbar.ProgressBar
 
 	if !opts.quiet {
+		// With --continue, a path the count cannot read leaves the run
+		// without a progress bar; the walk below reports it as failed.
 		bar, err = countAndBar(opts, paths, "Verifying checksums")
-		if err != nil {
+		if err != nil && !cont {
 			return err
 		}
 	}
@@ -481,7 +483,7 @@ func processCheck(opts *options, dir string, cont bool, stats *Stats, bar *progr
 	// Track initial failed count to detect failures during this walk.
 	initialFailed := atomic.LoadInt64(&stats.FilesFailed)
 
-	err := walkAndProcess(opts, dir, stats, bar, func(p string, _ os.FileInfo, s *Stats) error {
+	err := walkAndProcess(opts, dir, cont, stats, bar, func(p string, _ os.FileInfo, s *Stats) error {
 		return checkOne(opts, p, cont, s)
 	})
 	if err != nil {
@@ -505,7 +507,7 @@ func checkOne(opts *options, p string, cont bool, s *Stats) error {
 	exp, err := xattr.Get(p, checksumKey)
 	if err != nil {
 		if !errors.Is(err, xattr.ENOATTR) {
-			return err
+			return unreadable(cont, s, err)
 		}
 
 		return missingChecksum(opts, p, cont, s)
@@ -513,9 +515,7 @@ func checkOne(opts *options, p string, cont bool, s *Stats) error {
 
 	act, bytesRead, err := fileMultihash(p)
 	if err != nil {
-		atomic.AddInt64(&s.FilesFailed, 1)
-
-		return err
+		return unreadable(cont, s, err)
 	}
 
 	ok := bytes.Equal(exp, act)
@@ -551,6 +551,21 @@ func missingChecksum(opts *options, p string, cont bool, s *Stats) error {
 	return errVerification
 }
 
+// unreadable counts a file or directory that could not be read as failed.
+// With --continue it prints err, which names the path, to stderr and
+// returns nil so the walk goes on; otherwise it returns err.
+func unreadable(cont bool, s *Stats, err error) error {
+	atomic.AddInt64(&s.FilesFailed, 1)
+
+	if !cont {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	log.Print(err)
+
+	return nil
+}
+
 // reportCheck prints a per-file verification result when verbose output is on.
 func reportCheck(opts *options, p, actual string, ok bool) {
 	if !opts.verbose || opts.quiet {
@@ -650,6 +665,7 @@ func newProgressBar(total int64, description string) *progressbar.ProgressBar {
 func walkAndProcess(
 	opts *options,
 	root string,
+	cont bool,
 	stats *Stats,
 	bar *progressbar.ProgressBar,
 	fn func(string, os.FileInfo, *Stats) error,
@@ -658,7 +674,7 @@ func walkAndProcess(
 
 	return filepath.Walk(root, func(p string, info os.FileInfo, err error) error {
 		if err != nil {
-			return err
+			return unreadable(cont, stats, err)
 		}
 
 		skip, skipErr := walkSkip(opts, root, p, info)
diff --git a/attrsum_test.go b/attrsum_test.go
index 26d37a2..a3c7ce6 100644
--- a/attrsum_test.go
+++ b/attrsum_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
@@ -271,3 +272,51 @@ func TestPermissionErrors(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("expected permission error on check, got nil")
 	}
 }
+
+func TestCheckContinuePastUnreadable(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	opts := &options{}
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	skipIfNoXattr(t, dir)
+
+	writeFile(t, dir, "a.txt", "one")
+	secret := writeFile(t, dir, "b.txt", "two")
+	writeFile(t, dir, "c/d.txt", "three")
+	writeFile(t, dir, "e.txt", "four")
+
+	err := processSumAdd(opts, dir, newTestStats(), nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("add: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// An unreadable file and an unlistable directory sit between the
+	// readable files a.txt and e.txt.
+	sub := filepath.Join(dir, "c")
+
+	err = os.Chmod(secret, noPerm)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("chmod file: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	defer func() { _ = os.Chmod(secret, filePerm) }()
+
+	err = os.Chmod(sub, noPerm)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("chmod dir: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	defer func() { _ = os.Chmod(sub, dirPerm) }()
+
+	stats := newTestStats()
+
+	err = processCheck(opts, dir, true, stats, nil)
+	if !errors.Is(err, errVerification) {
+		t.Fatalf("expected verification error, got %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if stats.FilesProcessed != 2 || stats.FilesFailed != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected 2 verified and 2 failed, got %d and %d",
+			stats.FilesProcessed, stats.FilesFailed)
+	}
+}