diff --git a/internal/projectconfig/component_test.go b/internal/projectconfig/component_test.go
index 9f5f3d87..eac7df5e 100644
--- a/internal/projectconfig/component_test.go
+++ b/internal/projectconfig/component_test.go
@@ -942,7 +942,7 @@ func TestValidateComponentGroupMembership(t *testing.T) {
 			Components: []string{"missing-component"},
 		}
 
-		err := cfg.Validate()
+		err := cfg.Validate(false)
 		require.Error(t, err)
 		require.ErrorIs(t, err, projectconfig.ErrUndefinedComponent)
 		assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "my-group")
@@ -956,7 +956,7 @@ func TestValidateComponentGroupMembership(t *testing.T) {
 			Components: []string{"real-component"},
 		}
 
-		assert.NoError(t, cfg.Validate())
+		assert.NoError(t, cfg.Validate(false))
 	})
 
 	t.Run("group with only spec patterns is valid", func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -965,7 +965,7 @@ func TestValidateComponentGroupMembership(t *testing.T) {
 			SpecPathPatterns: []string{"SPECS/**/*.spec"},
 		}
 
-		assert.NoError(t, cfg.Validate())
+		assert.NoError(t, cfg.Validate(false))
 	})
 
 	t.Run("reports all undefined references together", func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -978,11 +978,20 @@ func TestValidateComponentGroupMembership(t *testing.T) {
 			Components: []string{"missing-3"},
 		}
 
-		err := cfg.Validate()
+		err := cfg.Validate(false)
 		require.Error(t, err)
 		require.ErrorIs(t, err, projectconfig.ErrUndefinedComponent)
 		assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "missing-1")
 		assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "missing-2")
 		assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "missing-3")
 	})
+
+	t.Run("permissive parsing ignores undefined component reference", func(t *testing.T) {
+		cfg := projectconfig.NewProjectConfig()
+		cfg.ComponentGroups["my-group"] = projectconfig.ComponentGroupConfig{
+			Components: []string{"missing-component"},
+		}
+
+		assert.NoError(t, cfg.Validate(true))
+	})
 }
diff --git a/internal/projectconfig/loader.go b/internal/projectconfig/loader.go
index 664c46fa..8a8ebbd4 100644
--- a/internal/projectconfig/loader.go
+++ b/internal/projectconfig/loader.go
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ func loadAndResolveProjectConfig(
 	}
 
 	// Validate the resulting configuration.
-	err := resolvedCfg.Validate()
+	err := resolvedCfg.Validate(permissiveConfigParsing)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/internal/projectconfig/package_test.go b/internal/projectconfig/package_test.go
index c6d129a2..cea71f41 100644
--- a/internal/projectconfig/package_test.go
+++ b/internal/projectconfig/package_test.go
@@ -155,6 +155,27 @@ func TestPackageGroupConfig_Validate(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+func TestValidatePackageGroupMembership(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("same package in two groups is rejected", func(t *testing.T) {
+		cfg := projectconfig.NewProjectConfig()
+		cfg.PackageGroups["group-a"] = projectconfig.PackageGroupConfig{Packages: []string{"curl"}}
+		cfg.PackageGroups["group-b"] = projectconfig.PackageGroupConfig{Packages: []string{"curl"}}
+
+		err := cfg.Validate(false)
+		require.Error(t, err)
+		assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "curl")
+		assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "may only belong to one group")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("permissive parsing ignores package in two groups", func(t *testing.T) {
+		cfg := projectconfig.NewProjectConfig()
+		cfg.PackageGroups["group-a"] = projectconfig.PackageGroupConfig{Packages: []string{"curl"}}
+		cfg.PackageGroups["group-b"] = projectconfig.PackageGroupConfig{Packages: []string{"curl"}}
+
+		assert.NoError(t, cfg.Validate(true))
+	})
+}
+
 func TestPackageConfig_MergeUpdatesFrom(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Run("non-zero other overrides zero base", func(t *testing.T) {
 		base := projectconfig.PackageConfig{}
diff --git a/internal/projectconfig/project.go b/internal/projectconfig/project.go
index adb862aa..8cec0571 100644
--- a/internal/projectconfig/project.go
+++ b/internal/projectconfig/project.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ package projectconfig
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"log/slog"
 	"sort"
 
 	"dario.cat/mergo"
@@ -68,23 +69,43 @@ func NewProjectConfig() ProjectConfig {
 	}
 }
 
-// Validates the configuration, returning an error if any semantic errors are found.
-func (cfg *ProjectConfig) Validate() error {
+// Validate performs semantic validation of the configuration, returning an error if any
+// semantic errors are found. When permissive is true, cross-reference consistency checks
+// (component-group membership, package-group membership, and image/test-suite references)
+// are downgraded to informational logs rather than hard errors.
+//
+// Permissive validation exists for best-effort loads such as historical overlay replay,
+// where a partial or point-in-time config may legitimately reference entities that are
+// defined in a different revision. Structural validation (required fields, value formats)
+// is always enforced.
+func (cfg *ProjectConfig) Validate(permissive bool) error {
 	err := validator.New().Struct(cfg)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("config error:\n%w", err)
 	}
 
 	if err := validateComponentGroupMembership(cfg.ComponentGroups, cfg.Components); err != nil {
-		return err
+		if !permissive {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		slog.Info("Ignoring component group membership error (permissive parsing)", "err", err)
 	}
 
 	if err := validatePackageGroupMembership(cfg.PackageGroups); err != nil {
-		return err
+		if !permissive {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		slog.Info("Ignoring package group membership error (permissive parsing)", "err", err)
 	}
 
 	if err := validateImageTestReferences(cfg.Images, cfg.TestSuites); err != nil {
-		return err
+		if !permissive {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		slog.Info("Ignoring image test suite reference error (permissive parsing)", "err", err)
 	}
 
 	if err := validateRpmRepos(cfg.Resources.RpmRepos); err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/projectconfig/testsuite_test.go b/internal/projectconfig/testsuite_test.go
index e24f758f..4d31523f 100644
--- a/internal/projectconfig/testsuite_test.go
+++ b/internal/projectconfig/testsuite_test.go
@@ -312,7 +312,7 @@ func TestValidateTestSuiteReferences(t *testing.T) {
 			GroupsByComponent: make(map[string][]string),
 			PackageGroups:     make(map[string]projectconfig.PackageGroupConfig),
 		}
-		assert.NoError(t, cfg.Validate())
+		assert.NoError(t, cfg.Validate(false))
 	})
 
 	t.Run("undefined test reference", func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -330,7 +330,7 @@ func TestValidateTestSuiteReferences(t *testing.T) {
 			GroupsByComponent: make(map[string][]string),
 			PackageGroups:     make(map[string]projectconfig.PackageGroupConfig),
 		}
-		err := cfg.Validate()
+		err := cfg.Validate(false)
 		require.Error(t, err)
 		require.ErrorIs(t, err, projectconfig.ErrUndefinedTestSuite)
 		assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "nonexistent")
@@ -348,6 +348,24 @@ func TestValidateTestSuiteReferences(t *testing.T) {
 			GroupsByComponent: make(map[string][]string),
 			PackageGroups:     make(map[string]projectconfig.PackageGroupConfig),
 		}
-		assert.NoError(t, cfg.Validate())
+		assert.NoError(t, cfg.Validate(false))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("permissive parsing ignores undefined test reference", func(t *testing.T) {
+		cfg := projectconfig.ProjectConfig{
+			Images: map[string]projectconfig.ImageConfig{
+				"myimage": {
+					Name:  "myimage",
+					Tests: projectconfig.ImageTestsConfig{TestSuites: []projectconfig.TestSuiteRef{{Name: "nonexistent"}}},
+				},
+			},
+			TestSuites:        make(map[string]projectconfig.TestSuiteConfig),
+			Components:        make(map[string]projectconfig.ComponentConfig),
+			ComponentGroups:   make(map[string]projectconfig.ComponentGroupConfig),
+			Distros:           make(map[string]projectconfig.DistroDefinition),
+			GroupsByComponent: make(map[string][]string),
+			PackageGroups:     make(map[string]projectconfig.PackageGroupConfig),
+		}
+		assert.NoError(t, cfg.Validate(true))
 	})
 }