diff --git a/internal/cache/backend.go b/internal/cache/backend.go
index b0edfcbe5..24a44d750 100644
--- a/internal/cache/backend.go
+++ b/internal/cache/backend.go
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ func (b *Backend) Remove(ctx context.Context, h backend.Handle) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	err = b.Cache.remove(h)
+	_, err = b.Cache.remove(h)
 	return err
 }
 
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ func (b *Backend) cacheFile(ctx context.Context, h backend.Handle) error {
 		})
 		if err != nil {
 			// try to remove from the cache, ignore errors
-			_ = b.Cache.remove(h)
+			_, _ = b.Cache.remove(h)
 		}
 		return err
 	}
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ func (b *Backend) Stat(ctx context.Context, h backend.Handle) (backend.FileInfo,
 	fi, err := b.Backend.Stat(ctx, h)
 	if err != nil && b.Backend.IsNotExist(err) {
 		// try to remove from the cache, ignore errors
-		_ = b.Cache.remove(h)
+		_, _ = b.Cache.remove(h)
 	}
 
 	return fi, err
diff --git a/internal/cache/cache.go b/internal/cache/cache.go
index 19b3182df..a55b51c70 100644
--- a/internal/cache/cache.go
+++ b/internal/cache/cache.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"regexp"
 	"strconv"
+	"sync"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
@@ -20,6 +21,8 @@ type Cache struct {
 	path    string
 	Base    string
 	Created bool
+
+	forgotten sync.Map
 }
 
 const dirMode = 0700
diff --git a/internal/cache/file.go b/internal/cache/file.go
index b54bd806d..12f5f23c5 100644
--- a/internal/cache/file.go
+++ b/internal/cache/file.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package cache
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
@@ -140,20 +141,33 @@ func (c *Cache) save(h backend.Handle, rd io.Reader) error {
 }
 
 func (c *Cache) Forget(h backend.Handle) error {
-	return c.remove(h)
+	h.IsMetadata = false
+
+	if _, ok := c.forgotten.Load(h); ok {
+		// Delete a file at most once while restic runs.
+		// This prevents repeatedly caching and forgetting broken files
+		return fmt.Errorf("circuit breaker prevents repeated deletion of cached file %v", h)
+	}
+
+	removed, err := c.remove(h)
+	if removed {
+		c.forgotten.Store(h, struct{}{})
+	}
+	return err
 }
 
 // remove deletes a file. When the file is not cached, no error is returned.
-func (c *Cache) remove(h backend.Handle) error {
+func (c *Cache) remove(h backend.Handle) (bool, error) {
 	if !c.canBeCached(h.Type) {
-		return nil
+		return false, nil
 	}
 
 	err := fs.Remove(c.filename(h))
+	removed := err == nil
 	if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
 		err = nil
 	}
-	return err
+	return removed, err
 }
 
 // Clear removes all files of type t from the cache that are not contained in