diff --git a/ietf/sync/tests_utils.py b/ietf/sync/tests_utils.py
index eb4b4ddf74..bb4a859e30 100644
--- a/ietf/sync/tests_utils.py
+++ b/ietf/sync/tests_utils.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 from django.test import override_settings
 from ietf import settings
+from ietf.doc.factories import RfcFactory
 from ietf.doc.storage_utils import exists_in_storage, retrieve_str
 from ietf.sync.utils import build_from_file_content, load_rfcs_into_blobdb, rsync_helper
 from ietf.utils.test_utils import TestCase
@@ -59,6 +60,7 @@ def test_load_rfcs_into_blobdb(self):
                 rfc_path = Path(faux_rfc_path)
                 (rfc_path / "prerelease").mkdir()
                 for num in [12345, 54321]:
+                    RfcFactory(rfc_number=num)
                     for ext in settings.RFC_FILE_TYPES + ("json",):
                         with (rfc_path / f"rfc{num}.{ext}").open("w") as f:
                             f.write(ext)
diff --git a/ietf/sync/utils.py b/ietf/sync/utils.py
index 5b5f8ff559..b3bdd8d206 100644
--- a/ietf/sync/utils.py
+++ b/ietf/sync/utils.py
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 
 from django.conf import settings
-
 from ietf.utils import log
+from ietf.doc.models import Document
 from ietf.doc.storage_utils import AlreadyExistsError, store_bytes
 
 
@@ -26,17 +26,42 @@ def build_from_file_content(rfc_numbers: list[int]) -> str:
 
 def load_rfcs_into_blobdb(numbers: list[int]):
     types_to_load = settings.RFC_FILE_TYPES + ("json",)
+    rfc_docs = Document.objects.filter(type="rfc", rfc_number__in=numbers).values_list("rfc_number", flat=True)
     for num in numbers:
-        for ext in types_to_load:
-            fs_path = Path(settings.RFC_PATH) / f"rfc{num}.{ext}"
-            if fs_path.is_file():
-                with fs_path.open("rb") as f:
+        if num in rfc_docs:
+            for ext in types_to_load:
+                fs_path = Path(settings.RFC_PATH) / f"rfc{num}.{ext}"
+                if fs_path.is_file():
+                    with fs_path.open("rb") as f:
+                        bytes = f.read()
+                    mtime = fs_path.stat().st_mtime
+                    try:
+                        store_bytes(
+                            kind="rfc",
+                            name=f"{ext}/rfc{num}.{ext}",
+                            content=bytes,
+                            allow_overwrite=False,  # Intentionally not allowing overwrite.
+                            doc_name=f"rfc{num}",
+                            doc_rev=None,
+                            # Not setting content_type
+                            mtime=datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(
+                                mtime, tz=datetime.UTC
+                            ),
+                        )
+                    except AlreadyExistsError as e:
+                        log.log(str(e))
+
+            # store the not-prepped xml
+            name = f"rfc{num}.notprepped.xml"
+            source = Path(settings.RFC_PATH) / "prerelease" / name
+            if source.is_file():
+                with open(source, "rb") as f:
                     bytes = f.read()
-                mtime = fs_path.stat().st_mtime
+                mtime = source.stat().st_mtime
                 try:
                     store_bytes(
                         kind="rfc",
-                        name=f"{ext}/rfc{num}.{ext}",
+                        name=f"notprepped/{name}",
                         content=bytes,
                         allow_overwrite=False,  # Intentionally not allowing overwrite.
                         doc_name=f"rfc{num}",
@@ -46,24 +71,7 @@ def load_rfcs_into_blobdb(numbers: list[int]):
                     )
                 except AlreadyExistsError as e:
                     log.log(str(e))
-
-        # store the not-prepped xml
-        name = f"rfc{num}.notprepped.xml"
-        source = Path(settings.RFC_PATH) / "prerelease" / name
-        if source.is_file():
-            with open(source, "rb") as f:
-                bytes = f.read()
-            mtime = source.stat().st_mtime
-            try:
-                store_bytes(
-                    kind="rfc",
-                    name=f"notprepped/{name}",
-                    content=bytes,
-                    allow_overwrite=False,  # Intentionally not allowing overwrite.
-                    doc_name=f"rfc{num}",
-                    doc_rev=None,
-                    # Not setting content_type
-                    mtime=datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(mtime, tz=datetime.UTC),
-                )
-            except AlreadyExistsError as e:
-                log.log(str(e))
+        else:
+            log.log(
+                f"Skipping loading rfc{num} into blobdb as no matching Document exists"
+            )