diff --git a/src/libraries/System.IO.Pipes/src/System/IO/Pipes/NamedPipeClientStream.Unix.cs b/src/libraries/System.IO.Pipes/src/System/IO/Pipes/NamedPipeClientStream.Unix.cs
index 4c7df8d63e73a4..3ce699faf14f0b 100644
--- a/src/libraries/System.IO.Pipes/src/System/IO/Pipes/NamedPipeClientStream.Unix.cs
+++ b/src/libraries/System.IO.Pipes/src/System/IO/Pipes/NamedPipeClientStream.Unix.cs
@@ -35,6 +35,19 @@ private bool TryConnect(int _ /* timeout */)
             // either succeeding immediately if the server is listening or failing
             // immediately if it isn't.  The only delay will be between the time the server
             // has called Bind and Listen, with the latter immediately following the former.
+
+            // If the socket file doesn't exist yet, skip the socket allocation and
+            // Connect call that would throw a SocketException.  Only ENOENT (not found)
+            // is short-circuited; permission errors and other conditions still reach
+            // socket.Connect so they surface their specific exceptions.
+            // TOCTOU note: the file could appear between this check and the next retry
+            // iteration, but ConnectInternal's polling loop handles that naturally.
+            if (Interop.Sys.Stat(_normalizedPipePath!, out Interop.Sys.FileStatus _) != 0 &&
+                Interop.Sys.GetLastErrorInfo().Error == Interop.Error.ENOENT)
+            {
+                return false;
+            }
+
             var socket = new Socket(AddressFamily.Unix, SocketType.Stream, ProtocolType.Unspecified);
             SafePipeHandle? clientHandle = null;
             try
diff --git a/src/libraries/System.IO.Pipes/tests/NamedPipeTests/NamedPipeTest.Specific.cs b/src/libraries/System.IO.Pipes/tests/NamedPipeTests/NamedPipeTest.Specific.cs
index 8ae58d74c23075..1978b0510e5e7c 100644
--- a/src/libraries/System.IO.Pipes/tests/NamedPipeTests/NamedPipeTest.Specific.cs
+++ b/src/libraries/System.IO.Pipes/tests/NamedPipeTests/NamedPipeTest.Specific.cs
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 using System.Security.Principal;
 using System.Threading;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
+using Microsoft.DotNet.RemoteExecutor;
 using Xunit;
 
 namespace System.IO.Pipes.Tests
@@ -632,6 +633,45 @@ public void ClientConnect_Throws_Timeout_When_Pipe_Not_Found()
             }
         }
 
+        [ConditionalFact(typeof(RemoteExecutor), nameof(RemoteExecutor.IsSupported))]
+        [PlatformSpecific(TestPlatforms.AnyUnix)]
+        [SkipOnPlatform(TestPlatforms.iOS | TestPlatforms.tvOS, "iOS/tvOS blocks binding to UNIX sockets")]
+        public void ClientConnect_PipeNotFound_DoesNotFloodFirstChanceExceptions()
+        {
+            RemoteExecutor.Invoke(() =>
+            {
+                string pipeName = PipeStreamConformanceTests.GetUniquePipeName();
+                int socketExceptionCount = 0;
+
+                EventHandler<System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.FirstChanceExceptionEventArgs> handler = (sender, args) =>
+                {
+                    if (args.Exception is Net.Sockets.SocketException)
+                    {
+                        Interlocked.Increment(ref socketExceptionCount);
+                    }
+                };
+
+                AppDomain.CurrentDomain.FirstChanceException += handler;
+                try
+                {
+                    using (NamedPipeClientStream client = new NamedPipeClientStream(pipeName))
+                    {
+                        Assert.Throws<TimeoutException>(() => client.Connect(500));
+                    }
+                }
+                finally
+                {
+                    AppDomain.CurrentDomain.FirstChanceException -= handler;
+                }
+
+                // Before the fix, connecting to a non-existent pipe for 500ms would
+                // throw hundreds or thousands of SocketExceptions internally.
+                // With the Stat-based guard, zero SocketExceptions should be thrown
+                // when the pipe file never exists. Allow a small margin for races.
+                Assert.InRange(socketExceptionCount, 0, 5);
+            }).Dispose();
+        }
+
         [Theory]
         [MemberData(nameof(GetCancellationTokens))]
         [SkipOnPlatform(TestPlatforms.iOS | TestPlatforms.tvOS, "iOS/tvOS blocks binding to UNIX sockets")]