diff --git a/updater/lib/dependabot/updater/group_update_creation.rb b/updater/lib/dependabot/updater/group_update_creation.rb
index 16b75d3de68..e5bf856c0d4 100644
--- a/updater/lib/dependabot/updater/group_update_creation.rb
+++ b/updater/lib/dependabot/updater/group_update_creation.rb
@@ -586,8 +586,12 @@ def existing_pr_covers_job_directories?(pull_request)
         normalized_job_dirs = job_directories.map { |d| Pathname.new(d).cleanpath.to_s }.uniq
         normalized_pr_dirs = pr_directories.map { |d| Pathname.new(d).cleanpath.to_s }.uniq
 
-        # Match only when the PR directories exactly match the job directories
-        normalized_job_dirs.sort == normalized_pr_dirs.sort
+        # Match when the PR's directories are a subset of the job's directories.
+        # A PR only records the directories that actually had updates, so it can
+        # legitimately cover fewer directories than the job is configured with.
+        # A PR covering directories outside the job's scope is stale or belongs
+        # to a different configuration, so it is not a match.
+        (normalized_pr_dirs - normalized_job_dirs).empty?
       end
 
       sig do
diff --git a/updater/spec/dependabot/updater/operations/group_update_all_versions_spec.rb b/updater/spec/dependabot/updater/operations/group_update_all_versions_spec.rb
index c05b660af54..f7b20e6d03d 100644
--- a/updater/spec/dependabot/updater/operations/group_update_all_versions_spec.rb
+++ b/updater/spec/dependabot/updater/operations/group_update_all_versions_spec.rb
@@ -345,6 +345,67 @@
         end
       end
 
+      context "when PR covers a subset of the job's directories" do
+        before do
+          allow(job).to receive_messages(
+            existing_group_pull_requests: [
+              {
+                "dependency-group-name" => "dummy-group",
+                "pr_number" => 123,
+                "dependencies" => [
+                  {
+                    "dependency-name" => "rollup",
+                    "dependency-version" => "2.79.2",
+                    "directory" => "/"
+                  }
+                ]
+              }
+            ].map { |pr| Dependabot::Job::ExistingGroupPullRequest.from_hash(pr) },
+            source: mock_source_with_multiple_dirs
+          )
+        end
+
+        it "skips creating a new PR" do
+          expect(mock_create_group_update).not_to receive(:perform)
+          expect(dependency_snapshot).to receive(:mark_group_handled).with(dependency_group)
+          perform
+        end
+      end
+
+      context "when PR covers directories outside the job's directories" do
+        before do
+          allow(job).to receive_messages(
+            existing_group_pull_requests: [
+              {
+                "dependency-group-name" => "dummy-group",
+                "pr_number" => 123,
+                "dependencies" => [
+                  {
+                    "dependency-name" => "rollup",
+                    "dependency-version" => "2.79.2",
+                    "directory" => "/"
+                  },
+                  {
+                    "dependency-name" => "rollup",
+                    "dependency-version" => "2.79.2",
+                    "directory" => "/packages/corelib"
+                  }
+                ]
+              }
+            ].map { |pr| Dependabot::Job::ExistingGroupPullRequest.from_hash(pr) },
+            source: mock_source
+          )
+          allow(mock_source).to receive(:directory).and_return("/")
+        end
+
+        it "creates a new PR" do
+          allow(mock_create_group_update).to receive(:perform).and_return(mock_dependency_change)
+          expect(mock_create_group_update).to receive(:perform)
+          expect(dependency_snapshot).not_to receive(:mark_group_handled).with(dependency_group)
+          perform
+        end
+      end
+
       context "when existing PR has no directory info" do
         before do
           allow(job).to receive_messages(