diff --git a/common/Vulkan/ShaderCache.cpp b/common/Vulkan/ShaderCache.cpp
index ffa32ae461..b48a7a1be1 100644
--- a/common/Vulkan/ShaderCache.cpp
+++ b/common/Vulkan/ShaderCache.cpp
@@ -214,7 +214,17 @@ namespace Vulkan
 	{
 		m_index_file = FileSystem::OpenCFile(index_filename.c_str(), "r+b");
 		if (!m_index_file)
+		{
+			// special case here: when there's a sharing violation (i.e. two instances running),
+			// we don't want to blow away the cache. so just continue without a cache.
+			if (errno == EACCES)
+			{
+				Console.WriteLn("Failed to open shader cache index with EACCES, are you running two instances?");
+				return true;
+			}
+
 			return false;
+		}
 
 		u32 file_version = 0;
 		u32 data_version = 0;