diff --git a/interp/interp_test.go b/interp/interp_test.go
index 65f8b541bb..4aa054648f 100644
--- a/interp/interp_test.go
+++ b/interp/interp_test.go
@@ -37,8 +37,8 @@ func runTest(t *testing.T, pathPrefix string) {
 	// Read the input IR.
 	ctx := llvm.NewContext()
 	defer ctx.Dispose()
+	ensureTestCacheFreshness(t, pathPrefix+".ll")
 	buf, err := llvm.NewMemoryBufferFromFile(pathPrefix + ".ll")
-	os.Stat(pathPrefix + ".ll") // make sure this file is tracked by `go test` caching
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("could not read file %s: %v", pathPrefix+".ll", err)
 	}
@@ -153,3 +153,12 @@ func filterIrrelevantIRLines(lines []string) []string {
 	}
 	return out
 }
+
+// ensureTestCacheFreshness registers path as an input of the running test.
+// see https://github.com/tinygo-org/tinygo/issues/5780.
+func ensureTestCacheFreshness(t *testing.T, path string) {
+	t.Helper()
+	if _, err := os.Stat(path); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("could not stat test fixture %s: %v", path, err)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/transform/gc_test.go b/transform/gc_test.go
index 2d5822dab9..1c6343cae4 100644
--- a/transform/gc_test.go
+++ b/transform/gc_test.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package transform_test
 
 import (
 	"errors"
-	"os"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/tinygo-org/tinygo/transform"
@@ -37,8 +36,8 @@ func TestGCStackSlotCounts(t *testing.T) {
 
 	ctx := llvm.NewContext()
 	defer ctx.Dispose()
+	ensureTestCacheFreshness(t, "testdata/gc-slotcounts.ll")
 	buf, err := llvm.NewMemoryBufferFromFile("testdata/gc-slotcounts.ll")
-	os.Stat("testdata/gc-slotcounts.ll") // make sure `go test` caching tracks this file
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("could not read file: %v", err)
 	}
diff --git a/transform/optimizer_internal_test.go b/transform/optimizer_internal_test.go
index 3358706dd0..a687e2dd46 100644
--- a/transform/optimizer_internal_test.go
+++ b/transform/optimizer_internal_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package transform
 
 import (
+	"os"
 	"testing"
 
 	"tinygo.org/x/go-llvm"
@@ -9,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 func TestBlockGlobalAllocPromotionUses(t *testing.T) {
 	ctx := llvm.NewContext()
 	defer ctx.Dispose()
+	ensureTestCacheFreshness(t, "testdata/optimizer-alloc-uses.ll")
 	buf, err := llvm.NewMemoryBufferFromFile("testdata/optimizer-alloc-uses.ll")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
@@ -31,3 +33,12 @@ func TestBlockGlobalAllocPromotionUses(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("got %d marker uses, want 1", len(uses))
 	}
 }
+
+// ensureTestCacheFreshness registers path as an input of the running test.
+// see https://github.com/tinygo-org/tinygo/issues/5780.
+func ensureTestCacheFreshness(t *testing.T, path string) {
+	t.Helper()
+	if _, err := os.Stat(path); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("could not stat test fixture %s: %v", path, err)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/transform/transform_test.go b/transform/transform_test.go
index 743fa92e60..60deec9942 100644
--- a/transform/transform_test.go
+++ b/transform/transform_test.go
@@ -51,8 +51,8 @@ func testTransform(t *testing.T, pathPrefix string, transform func(mod llvm.Modu
 	// Read the input IR.
 	ctx := llvm.NewContext()
 	defer ctx.Dispose()
+	ensureTestCacheFreshness(t, pathPrefix+".ll")
 	buf, err := llvm.NewMemoryBufferFromFile(pathPrefix + ".ll")
-	os.Stat(pathPrefix + ".ll") // make sure this file is tracked by `go test` caching
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("could not read file %s: %v", pathPrefix+".ll", err)
 	}
@@ -265,3 +265,12 @@ func getPosition(val llvm.Value) token.Position {
 		return token.Position{}
 	}
 }
+
+// ensureTestCacheFreshness registers path as an input of the running test.
+// see https://github.com/tinygo-org/tinygo/issues/5780.
+func ensureTestCacheFreshness(t *testing.T, path string) {
+	t.Helper()
+	if _, err := os.Stat(path); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("could not stat test fixture %s: %v", path, err)
+	}
+}