diff --git a/src/ansiblelint/runner.py b/src/ansiblelint/runner.py
index 86e8372da2..ac5cacf5de 100644
--- a/src/ansiblelint/runner.py
+++ b/src/ansiblelint/runner.py
@@ -213,11 +213,26 @@ def _run(self) -> list[MatchError]:
 
         # remove exclusions
         for lintable in self.lintables.copy():
+            # 1. Standard exclusion check
             if self.is_excluded(lintable):
                 _logger.debug("Excluded %s", lintable)
                 self.lintables.remove(lintable)
                 continue
+
+            # 2. Handle load errors (This is where SOPS/Broken YAML crashes)
             if isinstance(lintable.data, States) and lintable.exc:
+                # --- NEW LOGIC FOR #4745 ---
+                # Even if it's 'explicit', if it's broken, we check the exclude_paths
+                # one last time before reporting a 'load-failure'.
+                abs_path = str(lintable.abspath)
+                if any(
+                    abs_path.startswith(p) or fnmatch(abs_path, p)
+                    for p in self.exclude_paths
+                ):
+                    self.lintables.remove(lintable)
+                    continue
+                # --- END NEW LOGIC ---
+
                 line = 1
                 column = None
                 detail = ""
diff --git a/test/test_runner.py b/test/test_runner.py
index 5e2a79ad56..53ccbc0078 100644
--- a/test/test_runner.py
+++ b/test/test_runner.py
@@ -87,6 +87,25 @@ def test_runner_exclude_paths(default_rules_collection: RulesCollection) -> None
     assert len(matches) == 0
 
 
+def test_exclude_paths_ignores_broken_yaml(
+    default_rules_collection: RulesCollection,
+    tmp_path: Path,
+) -> None:
+    """Ensure exclude_paths prevents parsing of invalid YAML files (#4745)."""
+    broken_yaml = tmp_path / "secrets.yml"
+    broken_yaml.write_text("---\ninvalid: : : : yaml\n", encoding="utf-8")
+
+    runner = Runner(
+        broken_yaml,
+        rules=default_rules_collection,
+        exclude_paths=[str(broken_yaml)],
+    )
+
+    results = runner.run()
+
+    assert len(results) == 0
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     ("exclude_path"),
     (pytest.param("**/playbooks_globs/*b.yml", id="1"),),