diff --git a/.changeset/feat-purge-exact-matching.md b/.changeset/feat-purge-exact-matching.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c4f3cb83
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/feat-purge-exact-matching.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"enhanced-resolve": minor
+---
+
+`CachedInputFileSystem#purge` accepts a second `{ exact?: boolean }` argument; `exact: true` removes only entries whose key matches `what` exactly instead of any entry whose key starts with `what`.
diff --git a/lib/CachedInputFileSystem.js b/lib/CachedInputFileSystem.js
index 17e66a9d..39eab864 100644
--- a/lib/CachedInputFileSystem.js
+++ b/lib/CachedInputFileSystem.js
@@ -367,9 +367,10 @@ class CacheBackend {
 
 	/**
 	 * @param {(string | Buffer | URL | number | (string | URL | Buffer | number)[] | Set<string | URL | Buffer | number>)=} what what to purge
+	 * @param {{ exact?: boolean }=} options options; `exact: true` removes only entries whose key matches `what` exactly instead of any entry whose key starts with `what`
 	 */
-	purge(what) {
-		if (!what) {
+	purge(what, options) {
+		if (what === undefined || what === null) {
 			if (this._mode !== STORAGE_MODE_IDLE) {
 				this._data.clear();
 				for (const level of this._levels) {
@@ -377,13 +378,56 @@ class CacheBackend {
 				}
 				this._enterIdleMode();
 			}
-		} else if (
+			return;
+		}
+		const exact =
+			options !== undefined && options !== null && options.exact === true;
+		if (exact) {
+			if (
+				typeof what === "string" ||
+				Buffer.isBuffer(what) ||
+				what instanceof URL ||
+				typeof what === "number"
+			) {
+				const strWhat = typeof what !== "string" ? what.toString() : what;
+				const data = this._data.get(strWhat);
+				if (data !== undefined) {
+					this._data.delete(strWhat);
+					data.level.delete(strWhat);
+				}
+			} else {
+				for (const item of what) {
+					const strItem = typeof item !== "string" ? item.toString() : item;
+					const data = this._data.get(strItem);
+					if (data !== undefined) {
+						this._data.delete(strItem);
+						data.level.delete(strItem);
+					}
+				}
+			}
+			if (this._data.size === 0) {
+				this._enterIdleMode();
+			}
+			return;
+		}
+		if (
 			typeof what === "string" ||
 			Buffer.isBuffer(what) ||
 			what instanceof URL ||
 			typeof what === "number"
 		) {
 			const strWhat = typeof what !== "string" ? what.toString() : what;
+			if (strWhat === "") {
+				// empty string is a prefix of every key — short-circuit the O(n) scan
+				if (this._mode !== STORAGE_MODE_IDLE) {
+					this._data.clear();
+					for (const level of this._levels) {
+						level.clear();
+					}
+					this._enterIdleMode();
+				}
+				return;
+			}
 			for (const [key, data] of this._data) {
 				if (key.startsWith(strWhat)) {
 					this._data.delete(key);
@@ -414,7 +458,7 @@ class CacheBackend {
 	 * @param {(string | Buffer | URL | number | (string | URL | Buffer | number)[] | Set<string | URL | Buffer | number>)=} what what to purge
 	 */
 	purgeParent(what) {
-		if (!what) {
+		if (what === undefined || what === null) {
 			this.purge();
 		} else if (
 			typeof what === "string" ||
@@ -673,14 +717,19 @@ module.exports = class CachedInputFileSystem {
 
 	/**
 	 * @param {(string | Buffer | URL | number | (string | URL | Buffer | number)[] | Set<string | URL | Buffer | number>)=} what what to purge
+	 * @param {{ exact?: boolean }=} options options; `exact: true` removes only cache entries whose key matches `what` exactly instead of any entry whose key starts with `what`
 	 */
-	purge(what) {
-		this._statBackend.purge(what);
-		this._lstatBackend.purge(what);
-		this._readdirBackend.purgeParent(what);
-		this._readFileBackend.purge(what);
-		this._readlinkBackend.purge(what);
-		this._readJsonBackend.purge(what);
-		this._realpathBackend.purge(what);
+	purge(what, options) {
+		this._statBackend.purge(what, options);
+		this._lstatBackend.purge(what, options);
+		if (options !== undefined && options !== null && options.exact === true) {
+			this._readdirBackend.purge(what, options);
+		} else {
+			this._readdirBackend.purgeParent(what);
+		}
+		this._readFileBackend.purge(what, options);
+		this._readlinkBackend.purge(what, options);
+		this._readJsonBackend.purge(what, options);
+		this._realpathBackend.purge(what, options);
 	}
 };
diff --git a/test/CachedInputFileSystem.test.js b/test/CachedInputFileSystem.test.js
index f39a4748..cc520fff 100644
--- a/test/CachedInputFileSystem.test.js
+++ b/test/CachedInputFileSystem.test.js
@@ -460,6 +460,146 @@ describe("cachedInputFileSystem CacheBackend", () => {
 		});
 	});
 
+	it("should not clear the entire cache when purging falsy keys 0 or ''", (done) => {
+		// number 0 (a valid fd) and "" are valid cache keys per the signature;
+		// passing them must not be confused with the no-arg "clear all" form.
+		fs.stat("/test/path", (err, r1) => {
+			r1.cached = true;
+			fs.purge(0);
+			fs.stat("/test/path", (err, r2) => {
+				expect(r2.cached).toBe(true);
+				fs.purge("");
+				fs.stat("/test/path", (err, r3) => {
+					// Empty string is a prefix of every key, so prefix-purge still clears
+					// everything — but only because of the prefix semantics, not because
+					// "" was misclassified as "no argument".
+					expect(r3.cached).toBeUndefined();
+					done();
+				});
+			});
+		});
+	});
+
+	it("should not crash when options is null", (done) => {
+		fs.stat("/test/path", (err, r1) => {
+			r1.cached = true;
+			expect(() => fs.purge("/test/path", null)).not.toThrow();
+			fs.stat("/test/path", (err, r2) => {
+				// null is treated as "no options" — falls back to prefix purge
+				expect(r2.cached).toBeUndefined();
+				done();
+			});
+		});
+	});
+
+	it("should purge exact entries only when exact: true", (done) => {
+		fs.stat("/test/path", (err, r1) => {
+			expect(r1.path).toBe("/test/path");
+			r1.cached = true;
+			fs.stat("/test/path/sub", (err, r2) => {
+				expect(r2.path).toBe("/test/path/sub");
+				r2.cached = true;
+				// Prefix purge with exact: true should NOT remove the child entry
+				fs.purge("/test/path", { exact: true });
+				fs.stat("/test/path", (err, r3) => {
+					// /test/path was the exact match, should be re-fetched (cached flag gone)
+					expect(r3.cached).toBeUndefined();
+					fs.stat("/test/path/sub", (err, r4) => {
+						// /test/path/sub should still be cached
+						expect(r4.cached).toBe(true);
+						done();
+					});
+				});
+			});
+		});
+	});
+
+	it("should purge an array exactly when exact: true", (done) => {
+		fs.stat("/test/path", (err, r1) => {
+			r1.cached = true;
+			fs.stat("/test/path/sub", (err, r2) => {
+				r2.cached = true;
+				fs.stat("/other", (err, r3) => {
+					r3.cached = true;
+					fs.purge(["/test/path", "/other"], { exact: true });
+					fs.stat("/test/path", (err, r4) => {
+						expect(r4.cached).toBeUndefined();
+						fs.stat("/test/path/sub", (err, r5) => {
+							expect(r5.cached).toBe(true);
+							fs.stat("/other", (err, r6) => {
+								expect(r6.cached).toBeUndefined();
+								done();
+							});
+						});
+					});
+				});
+			});
+		});
+	});
+
+	it("should still prefix-purge when exact is not set or false", (done) => {
+		fs.stat("/test/path", (err, r1) => {
+			r1.cached = true;
+			fs.stat("/test/path/sub", (err, r2) => {
+				r2.cached = true;
+				fs.purge("/test/path");
+				fs.stat("/test/path", (err, r3) => {
+					expect(r3.cached).toBeUndefined();
+					fs.stat("/test/path/sub", (err, r4) => {
+						expect(r4.cached).toBeUndefined();
+						done();
+					});
+				});
+			});
+		});
+	});
+
+	it("should purge readdir of the exact directory when exact: true", (done) => {
+		fs.readdir("/test/path", (err, r1) => {
+			expect(r1[0]).toBe("0");
+			fs.readdir("/test/path/sub", (err, r2) => {
+				expect(r2[0]).toBe("1");
+				// Without exact, purging the dir path strips to dirname and prefix-purges
+				// readdir for that parent — meaning readdir("/test/path") would NOT be evicted
+				// by purge("/test/path/sub") in legacy mode (parent is "/test/path/", child of
+				// which is "/test/path/sub", but readdir key is "/test/path"). With exact: true
+				// the caller is naming the directory itself, so it should evict directly.
+				fs.purge("/test/path", { exact: true });
+				fs.readdir("/test/path", (err, r3) => {
+					expect(r3[0]).toBe("2");
+					// sibling readdir cache should still be intact
+					fs.readdir("/test/path/sub", (err, r4) => {
+						expect(r4[0]).toBe("1");
+						done();
+					});
+				});
+			});
+		});
+	});
+
+	it("should accept Buffer with exact: true", (done) => {
+		fs.stat("/test/path", (err, r1) => {
+			r1.cached = true;
+			fs.stat("/test/path/sub", (err, r2) => {
+				r2.cached = true;
+				fs.purge(Buffer.from("/test/path"), { exact: true });
+				fs.stat("/test/path", (err, r3) => {
+					expect(r3.cached).toBeUndefined();
+					fs.stat("/test/path/sub", (err, r4) => {
+						expect(r4.cached).toBe(true);
+						fs.purge([Buffer.from("/test/path/sub")], {
+							exact: true,
+						});
+						fs.stat("/test/path/sub", (err, r5) => {
+							expect(r5.cached).toBeUndefined();
+							done();
+						});
+					});
+				});
+			});
+		});
+	});
+
 	it("should not stack overflow when resolving in an async loop", (done) => {
 		let i = 10000;
 		const next = () => {
diff --git a/types.d.ts b/types.d.ts
index 997900d1..79d19624 100644
--- a/types.d.ts
+++ b/types.d.ts
@@ -145,6 +145,7 @@ declare class CachedInputFileSystem {
 			| URL_url
 			| (string | number | Buffer | URL_url)[]
 			| Set<string | number | Buffer | URL_url>,
+		options?: { exact?: boolean },
 	): void;
 }
 declare class CloneBasenamePlugin {