diff --git a/archunit/src/main/java/com/tngtech/archunit/library/freeze/TextFileBasedViolationStore.java b/archunit/src/main/java/com/tngtech/archunit/library/freeze/TextFileBasedViolationStore.java
index 05eba8224..f8c224d9b 100644
--- a/archunit/src/main/java/com/tngtech/archunit/library/freeze/TextFileBasedViolationStore.java
+++ b/archunit/src/main/java/com/tngtech/archunit/library/freeze/TextFileBasedViolationStore.java
@@ -22,8 +22,10 @@
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Properties;
+import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.UUID;
 import java.util.regex.Pattern;
+import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
 import com.google.common.base.Splitter;
 import com.tngtech.archunit.PublicAPI;
@@ -110,6 +112,7 @@ public void initialize(Properties properties) {
         log.trace("Initializing {} at {}", TextFileBasedViolationStore.class.getSimpleName(), storedRulesFile.getAbsolutePath());
         storedRules = new FileSyncedProperties(storedRulesFile);
         checkInitialization(storedRules.initializationSuccessful(), "Cannot create rule store at %s", storedRulesFile.getAbsolutePath());
+        cleanupObsoleteRules();
     }
 
     private File getStoredRulesFile() {
@@ -132,6 +135,18 @@ private void checkInitialization(boolean initializationSuccessful, String messag
         }
     }
 
+    private void cleanupObsoleteRules() {
+        Set<String> obsoleteStoredRules = storedRules.keySet().stream()
+                .filter(ruleDescription -> !new File(storeFolder, storedRules.getProperty(ruleDescription)).exists())
+                .collect(Collectors.toSet());
+        if (!obsoleteStoredRules.isEmpty() && !storeUpdateAllowed) {
+            throw new StoreUpdateFailedException(String.format(
+                    "Failed to remove %d obsolete stored rule(s). Updating frozen violations is disabled (enable by configuration %s.%s=true)",
+                    obsoleteStoredRules.size(), ViolationStoreFactory.FREEZE_STORE_PROPERTY_NAME, ALLOW_STORE_UPDATE_PROPERTY_NAME));
+        }
+        obsoleteStoredRules.forEach(storedRules::removeProperty);
+    }
+
     @Override
     public boolean contains(ArchRule rule) {
         return storedRules.containsKey(rule.getDescription());
@@ -255,6 +270,15 @@ void setProperty(String propertyName, String value) {
             syncFileSystem();
         }
 
+        void removeProperty(String propertyName) {
+            loadedProperties.remove(ensureUnixLineBreaks(propertyName));
+            syncFileSystem();
+        }
+
+        Set<String> keySet() {
+            return loadedProperties.stringPropertyNames();
+        }
+
         private void syncFileSystem() {
             try (FileOutputStream outputStream = new FileOutputStream(propertiesFile)) {
                 loadedProperties.store(outputStream, "");
diff --git a/archunit/src/test/java/com/tngtech/archunit/library/freeze/TextFileBasedViolationStoreTest.java b/archunit/src/test/java/com/tngtech/archunit/library/freeze/TextFileBasedViolationStoreTest.java
index 9916799d5..7160b8894 100644
--- a/archunit/src/test/java/com/tngtech/archunit/library/freeze/TextFileBasedViolationStoreTest.java
+++ b/archunit/src/test/java/com/tngtech/archunit/library/freeze/TextFileBasedViolationStoreTest.java
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableList;
 import com.google.common.io.Files;
 import com.tngtech.archunit.lang.ArchRule;
+import org.assertj.core.api.ThrowableAssert;
 import org.junit.Before;
 import org.junit.Rule;
 import org.junit.Test;
@@ -38,6 +39,38 @@ public void setUp() throws Exception {
                 "default.allowStoreCreation", String.valueOf(true)));
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void throws_exception_when_there_are_obsolete_entries_in_storedRules_files() throws Exception {
+        // given
+        store.save(defaultRule(), ImmutableList.of("first violation", "second violation"));
+        Properties properties = readProperties(new File(configuredFolder, "stored.rules"));
+        File ruleViolationsFile = new File(configuredFolder, properties.getProperty(defaultRule().getDescription()));
+        assertThat(ruleViolationsFile.delete()).isTrue();
+
+        // when && then
+        ThrowableAssert.ThrowingCallable storeInitialization = () -> store.initialize(propertiesOf(
+                "default.path", configuredFolder.getAbsolutePath(),
+                "default.allowStoreUpdate", String.valueOf(false)));
+        assertThatThrownBy(storeInitialization)
+                .isInstanceOf(StoreUpdateFailedException.class)
+                .hasMessage("Failed to remove 1 obsolete stored rule(s). Updating frozen violations is disabled (enable by configuration freeze.store.default.allowStoreUpdate=true)");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void deletes_obsolete_entries_from_storedRules_files() throws Exception {
+        // given
+        store.save(defaultRule(), ImmutableList.of("first violation", "second violation"));
+        Properties properties = readProperties(new File(configuredFolder, "stored.rules"));
+        File ruleViolationsFile = new File(configuredFolder, properties.getProperty(defaultRule().getDescription()));
+        assertThat(ruleViolationsFile.delete()).isTrue();
+
+        // when
+        store.initialize(propertiesOf("default.path", configuredFolder.getAbsolutePath()));
+
+        // then
+        assertThat(store.contains(defaultRule())).isFalse();
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void reports_unknown_rule_as_unstored() {
         assertThat(store.contains(defaultRule())).as("store contains random rule").isFalse();