diff --git a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/io/support/PathMatchingResourcePatternResolver.java b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/io/support/PathMatchingResourcePatternResolver.java
index 6147711e6d..6586e6c0bd 100644
--- a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/io/support/PathMatchingResourcePatternResolver.java
+++ b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/io/support/PathMatchingResourcePatternResolver.java
@@ -792,6 +792,14 @@ public class PathMatchingResourcePatternResolver implements ResourcePatternResol
 			rootPath = Path.of(rootDirResource.getFile().getAbsolutePath());
 		}
 
+		if (!Files.exists(rootPath)) {
+			if (logger.isInfoEnabled()) {
+				logger.info("Skipping search for files matching pattern [%s]: directory [%s] does not exist"
+						.formatted(subPattern, rootPath.toAbsolutePath()));
+			}
+			return result;
+		}
+
 		String rootDir = StringUtils.cleanPath(rootPath.toString());
 		if (!rootDir.endsWith("/")) {
 			rootDir += "/";
diff --git a/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/io/support/PathMatchingResourcePatternResolverTests.java b/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/io/support/PathMatchingResourcePatternResolverTests.java
index 61de1af5dc..b234739a27 100644
--- a/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/io/support/PathMatchingResourcePatternResolverTests.java
+++ b/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/io/support/PathMatchingResourcePatternResolverTests.java
@@ -90,6 +90,19 @@ class PathMatchingResourcePatternResolverTests {
 			assertFilenames(pattern, expectedFilenames);
 		}
 
+		@Test  // gh-31111
+		void usingFileProtocolWithWildcardInPatternAndNonexistentRootPath() throws IOException {
+			Path testResourcesDir = Paths.get("src/test/resources").toAbsolutePath();
+			String pattern = String.format("file:%s/example/bogus/**", testResourcesDir);
+			assertThat(resolver.getResources(pattern)).isEmpty();
+			// When the log level for the resolver is set to at least INFO, we should see
+			// a log entry similar to the following.
+			//
+			// [main] INFO  o.s.c.i.s.PathMatchingResourcePatternResolver -
+			// Skipping search for files matching pattern [**]: directory
+			// [/<...>/spring-core/src/test/resources/example/bogus] does not exist
+		}
+
 		@Test
 		void encodedHashtagInPath() throws IOException {
 			Path rootDir = Paths.get("src/test/resources/custom%23root").toAbsolutePath();