diff --git a/libpod/define/errors.go b/libpod/define/errors.go
index 09127a9b64..47b50a6a64 100644
--- a/libpod/define/errors.go
+++ b/libpod/define/errors.go
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@ var (
 	// does not exist.
 	ErrNoSuchExitCode = errors.New("no such exit code")
 
+	// ErrNoSuchQuadlet indicates the requested quadlet does not exist
+	ErrNoSuchQuadlet = errors.New("no such quadlet")
+
 	// ErrDepExists indicates that the current object has dependencies and
 	// cannot be removed before them.
 	ErrDepExists = errors.New("dependency exists")
diff --git a/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/quadlets.go b/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/quadlets.go
index 0d1e88f56c..b5c023f48b 100644
--- a/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/quadlets.go
+++ b/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/quadlets.go
@@ -67,6 +67,25 @@ func GetQuadletPrint(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	}
 }
 
+// QuadletExists checks if a quadlet exists by name
+func QuadletExists(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+	runtime := r.Context().Value(api.RuntimeKey).(*libpod.Runtime)
+	name := utils.GetName(r)
+
+	containerEngine := abi.ContainerEngine{Libpod: runtime}
+
+	report, err := containerEngine.QuadletExists(r.Context(), name)
+	if err != nil {
+		utils.InternalServerError(w, err)
+		return
+	}
+	if !report.Value {
+		utils.Error(w, http.StatusNotFound, fmt.Errorf("no such quadlet: %s", name))
+		return
+	}
+	utils.WriteResponse(w, http.StatusNoContent, "")
+}
+
 // extractQuadletFiles extracts quadlet files from tar archive to a temporary directory
 func extractQuadletFiles(tempDir string, r io.ReadCloser) ([]string, error) {
 	quadletDir := filepath.Join(tempDir, "quadlets")
diff --git a/pkg/api/server/register_quadlets.go b/pkg/api/server/register_quadlets.go
index 6e286b14c3..2172dad23d 100644
--- a/pkg/api/server/register_quadlets.go
+++ b/pkg/api/server/register_quadlets.go
@@ -54,6 +54,28 @@ func (s *APIServer) registerQuadletHandlers(r *mux.Router) error {
 	//   500:
 	//     $ref: "#/responses/internalError"
 	r.HandleFunc(VersionedPath("/libpod/quadlets/{name}/file"), s.APIHandler(libpod.GetQuadletPrint)).Methods(http.MethodGet)
+	// swagger:operation GET /libpod/quadlets/{name}/exists libpod QuadletExistsLibpod
+	// ---
+	// tags:
+	//   - quadlets
+	// summary: Check if quadlet exists
+	// description: Check if a quadlet exists by name
+	// produces:
+	// - application/json
+	// parameters:
+	//  - in: path
+	//    name: name
+	//    type: string
+	//    required: true
+	//    description: the name of the quadlet with extension (e.g., "myapp.container")
+	// responses:
+	//   204:
+	//     description: quadlet exists
+	//   404:
+	//     $ref: "#/responses/quadletNotFound"
+	//   500:
+	//     $ref: "#/responses/internalError"
+	r.HandleFunc(VersionedPath("/libpod/quadlets/{name}/exists"), s.APIHandler(libpod.QuadletExists)).Methods(http.MethodGet)
 	// swagger:operation POST /libpod/quadlets libpod QuadletInstallLibpod
 	// ---
 	// tags:
diff --git a/pkg/domain/entities/engine_container.go b/pkg/domain/entities/engine_container.go
index 30d645fa11..6b9c53e20f 100644
--- a/pkg/domain/entities/engine_container.go
+++ b/pkg/domain/entities/engine_container.go
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ type ContainerEngine interface { //nolint:interfacebloat
 	PodStop(ctx context.Context, namesOrIds []string, options PodStopOptions) ([]*PodStopReport, error)
 	PodTop(ctx context.Context, options PodTopOptions) (*StringSliceReport, error)
 	PodUnpause(ctx context.Context, namesOrIds []string, options PodunpauseOptions) ([]*PodUnpauseReport, error)
+	QuadletExists(ctx context.Context, name string) (*BoolReport, error)
 	QuadletInstall(ctx context.Context, pathsOrURLs []string, options QuadletInstallOptions) (*QuadletInstallReport, error)
 	QuadletList(ctx context.Context, options QuadletListOptions) ([]*ListQuadlet, error)
 	QuadletPrint(ctx context.Context, quadlet string) (string, error)
diff --git a/pkg/domain/infra/abi/quadlet.go b/pkg/domain/infra/abi/quadlet.go
index 84dd192c81..939715bd3d 100644
--- a/pkg/domain/infra/abi/quadlet.go
+++ b/pkg/domain/infra/abi/quadlet.go
@@ -719,6 +719,15 @@ func (ic *ContainerEngine) QuadletList(ctx context.Context, options entities.Qua
 	return finalReports, nil
 }
 
+// QuadletExists checks whether a quadlet with the given name exists.
+func (ic *ContainerEngine) QuadletExists(_ context.Context, name string) (*entities.BoolReport, error) {
+	_, err := getQuadletPathByName(name)
+	if err != nil && !errors.Is(err, define.ErrNoSuchQuadlet) {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return &entities.BoolReport{Value: err == nil}, nil
+}
+
 // Retrieve path to a Quadlet file given full name including extension
 func getQuadletPathByName(name string) (string, error) {
 	// Check if we were given a valid extension
@@ -737,7 +746,7 @@ func getQuadletPathByName(name string) (string, error) {
 		}
 		return testPath, nil
 	}
-	return "", fmt.Errorf("could not locate quadlet %q in any supported quadlet directory", name)
+	return "", fmt.Errorf("could not locate quadlet %q in any supported quadlet directory: %w", name, define.ErrNoSuchQuadlet)
 }
 
 func (ic *ContainerEngine) QuadletPrint(_ context.Context, quadlet string) (string, error) {
diff --git a/pkg/domain/infra/tunnel/quadlet.go b/pkg/domain/infra/tunnel/quadlet.go
index 752d0178fc..7c0a29ac04 100644
--- a/pkg/domain/infra/tunnel/quadlet.go
+++ b/pkg/domain/infra/tunnel/quadlet.go
@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@ import (
 
 var errNotImplemented = errors.New("not implemented for the remote Podman client")
 
+func (ic *ContainerEngine) QuadletExists(_ context.Context, _ string) (*entities.BoolReport, error) {
+	return nil, errNotImplemented
+}
+
 func (ic *ContainerEngine) QuadletInstall(_ context.Context, _ []string, _ entities.QuadletInstallOptions) (*entities.QuadletInstallReport, error) {
 	return nil, errNotImplemented
 }
diff --git a/test/apiv2/36-quadlets.at b/test/apiv2/36-quadlets.at
index 7020f32704..2b616c86f4 100644
--- a/test/apiv2/36-quadlets.at
+++ b/test/apiv2/36-quadlets.at
@@ -33,6 +33,12 @@ t GET libpod/quadlets/nonexistent.container 405
 # Test 404 for non-existent quadlet
 t GET libpod/quadlets/nonexistent.container/file 404
 
+# Test 404 for non-existent quadlet exists endpoint
+t GET libpod/quadlets/nonexistent.container/exists 404
+
+# Test 500 for invalid quadlet extension (not a user-facing "not found" but an input error)
+t GET libpod/quadlets/invalid.badext/exists 500
+
 # Install a quadlet with a unique name
 quadlet_name=quadlet-test-$(cat /proc/sys/kernel/random/uuid)
 
@@ -80,6 +86,12 @@ is "$output" "$quadlet_container_file_content"
 t GET "libpod/quadlets/$quadlet_build_name/file" 200
 is "$output" "$quadlet_build_file_content"
 
+# Test exists endpoint returns 204 for existing quadlet
+t GET "libpod/quadlets/$quadlet_container_name/exists" 204
+
+# Test exists endpoint returns 500 for quadlet without extension
+t GET "libpod/quadlets/$quadlet_name/exists" 500
+
 podman quadlet rm $quadlet_container_name
 podman quadlet rm $quadlet_build_name
 rm -rf $TMPD
@@ -319,16 +331,20 @@ EOF
 echo "$quadlet_1_content" > "$TMPDIR/$quadlet_1"
 podman quadlet install $TMPDIR/$quadlet_1
 
+t GET "libpod/quadlets/$quadlet_1/exists" 204
+
 t DELETE "libpod/quadlets/$quadlet_1" 200 \
     '.Removed|length=1' \
     '.QuadletErrors|length=0'
 
 t GET "libpod/quadlets/$quadlet_1/file" 404
 
-t DELETE "libpod/quadlets/nonexistent.container" 200 \
+# Verify exists returns 404 after deletion
+t GET "libpod/quadlets/$quadlet_1/exists" 404
+
+t DELETE "libpod/quadlets/nonexistent.container" 404 \
     '.Removed|length=0' \
-    '.Errors|length=1' \
-    '.Errors~.*could not locate quadlet.*'
+    .cause='no such quadlet'
 
 t DELETE "libpod/quadlets/nonexistent.container?ignore=true" 200 \
     '.Removed|length=1' \
@@ -353,7 +369,7 @@ podman quadlet install $TMPDIR/$quadlet_2
 if systemctl --user start "${quadlet_2%.*}.service" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
     if systemctl --user is-active --quiet ${quadlet_2%.*}.service; then
         t DELETE "libpod/quadlets/$quadlet_2" 400 \
-            .cause~.*'container'.*'is running and force is not set, refusing to remove'.*
+            .cause~.*'quadlet is running'
 
         t DELETE "libpod/quadlets/$quadlet_2?force=true" 200
     fi