diff --git a/lib/Test/MockFile.pm b/lib/Test/MockFile.pm
index 86e3781..6703ddc 100644
--- a/lib/Test/MockFile.pm
+++ b/lib/Test/MockFile.pm
@@ -982,6 +982,60 @@ sub file_from_disk {
     return __PACKAGE__->file( $file, $contents, @stats );
 }
 
+=head2 file_passthrough
+
+Args: C<($file)>
+
+Registers C<$file> with Test::MockFile but delegates B<all> file
+operations (C<stat>, C<open>, C<-f>, etc.) to the real filesystem.
+The path is not actually mocked: it is simply allowed through strict
+mode so that XS-based modules (e.g. L<DBD::SQLite>, L<DBI>) that
+perform C-level I/O can create and use the file while Perl-level
+checks remain consistent.
+
+    use Test::MockFile;    # strict mode by default
+    use DBI;
+
+    my $mock = Test::MockFile->file_passthrough('/tmp/test.db');
+    my $dbh  = DBI->connect("dbi:SQLite:dbname=/tmp/test.db", "", "");
+
+    ok $dbh->ping,        'ping works';
+    ok -f '/tmp/test.db', 'file exists on disk';
+
+When the returned object goes out of scope, the strict-mode rule is
+removed but the real file is B<not> deleted.  Clean up the file
+yourself if needed:
+
+    undef $mock;
+    unlink '/tmp/test.db';
+
+=cut
+
+sub file_passthrough {
+    my ( $class, $file ) = @_;
+
+    ( defined $file && length $file ) or confess("No file provided to instantiate $class");
+
+    my $path = _abs_path_to_file($file);
+
+    # Build a strict-mode rule that allows all operations on this path.
+    my $rule = {
+        'command_rule' => qr/.*/,
+        'file_rule'    => qr/^\Q$path\E$/,
+        'action'       => 1,
+    };
+    push @STRICT_RULES, $rule;
+
+    # We intentionally do NOT register in %files_being_mocked.
+    # This means _mock_stat, __open, etc. will all fall through to the
+    # real filesystem via FALLBACK_TO_REAL_OP / goto &CORE::*.
+    return bless {
+        'path'              => $path,
+        '_passthrough'      => 1,
+        '_passthrough_rule' => $rule,
+    }, $class;
+}
+
 =head2 symlink
 
 Args: ($readlink, $file )
@@ -1762,6 +1816,14 @@ sub DESTROY {
     my $path = $self->{'path'};
     defined $path or return;
 
+    # Passthrough mocks are not in %files_being_mocked — just remove
+    # the strict-mode rule that was created for them.
+    if ( $self->{'_passthrough'} ) {
+        my $rule = $self->{'_passthrough_rule'};
+        @STRICT_RULES = grep { $_ != $rule } @STRICT_RULES if $rule;
+        return;
+    }
+
     # Clean up autovivify tracking
     delete $_autovivify_dirs{$path};
 
diff --git a/t/file_passthrough.t b/t/file_passthrough.t
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..21bfcb5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/file_passthrough.t
@@ -0,0 +1,148 @@
+#!/usr/bin/perl -w
+
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+
+use Test2::Bundle::Extended;
+use Test2::Tools::Explain;
+use Test2::Plugin::NoWarnings;
+
+# Create temp dir BEFORE loading Test::MockFile to avoid
+# File::Temp's internal stat/chmod hitting our overrides.
+my $dir;
+BEGIN {
+    $dir = "/tmp/tmf_passthrough_$$";
+    CORE::mkdir( $dir, 0700 ) or die "Cannot create $dir: $!";
+}
+
+# Strict mode is the default — file_passthrough must work with it.
+use Test::MockFile;
+
+subtest(
+    'file_passthrough returns a mock object' => sub {
+        my $file = "$dir/basic.txt";
+
+        my $mock = Test::MockFile->file_passthrough($file);
+        isa_ok( $mock, ['Test::MockFile'], 'returns a Test::MockFile object' );
+    }
+);
+
+subtest(
+    'file_passthrough delegates to real filesystem' => sub {
+        my $file = "$dir/delegate.txt";
+        my $mock = Test::MockFile->file_passthrough($file);
+
+        # File doesn't exist yet on real FS
+        ok( !-e $file, 'file does not exist yet on real FS' );
+
+        # Create the real file via Perl open (goes through CORE::GLOBAL::open override)
+        ok( open( my $fh, '>', $file ), 'can open file for writing via override' );
+        print {$fh} "hello world\n";
+        close $fh;
+
+        # Perl-level checks should see the real file
+        ok( -e $file,  '-e sees the real file' );
+        ok( -f $file,  '-f sees the real file' );
+        ok( !-d $file, '-d correctly returns false' );
+
+        my $size = -s $file;
+        is( $size, 12, '-s returns correct size' );
+
+        # Can read back via Perl open
+        ok( open( my $fh2, '<', $file ), 'can open file for reading via override' );
+        my $content = <$fh2>;
+        close $fh2;
+        is( $content, "hello world\n", 'content matches what was written' );
+
+        # stat works
+        my @stat = stat($file);
+        ok( scalar @stat, 'stat returns data' );
+        is( $stat[7], 12, 'stat size is correct' );
+
+        # unlink works
+        ok( unlink($file), 'can unlink via override' );
+        ok( !-e $file, 'file is gone after unlink' );
+    }
+);
+
+subtest(
+    'file_passthrough coexists with regular mocks' => sub {
+        my $mocked_file = "$dir/regular.txt";
+        my $pass_file   = "$dir/pass.txt";
+
+        my $regular_mock = Test::MockFile->file( $mocked_file, "mocked content" );
+        my $pass_mock    = Test::MockFile->file_passthrough($pass_file);
+
+        # Regular mock works as expected
+        ok( -f $mocked_file, 'regular mock file exists in mock world' );
+        ok( open( my $fh, '<', $mocked_file ), 'can open regular mock' );
+        my $content = <$fh>;
+        close $fh;
+        is( $content, "mocked content", 'regular mock has mocked content' );
+
+        # Passthrough falls through to real FS
+        ok( !-e $pass_file, 'passthrough file does not exist on disk yet' );
+
+        # Create real file for passthrough
+        ok( open( my $fh2, '>', $pass_file ), 'can write to passthrough path' );
+        print {$fh2} "real content\n";
+        close $fh2;
+
+        ok( -f $pass_file, 'passthrough file now exists on disk' );
+    }
+);
+
+subtest(
+    'file_passthrough strict rule cleanup on scope exit' => sub {
+        my $file = "$dir/scoped.txt";
+
+        {
+            my $mock = Test::MockFile->file_passthrough($file);
+
+            # Should be able to access the file without strict mode dying
+            ok( !-e $file, 'file does not exist (no strict violation)' );
+
+            # Create it
+            ok( open( my $fh, '>', $file ), 'can create file in passthrough scope' );
+            print {$fh} "temporary\n";
+            close $fh;
+            ok( -f $file, 'file exists while passthrough is alive' );
+
+            # Clean up the real file before mock goes out of scope
+            CORE::unlink($file);
+        }
+
+        # After scope exit, accessing the unmocked file in strict mode should die
+        like(
+            dies { -e $file },
+            qr/unmocked file/,
+            'strict mode violation after passthrough goes out of scope',
+        );
+    }
+);
+
+subtest(
+    'file_passthrough rejects undefined path' => sub {
+        like(
+            dies { Test::MockFile->file_passthrough(undef) },
+            qr/No file provided/,
+            'dies with undef path',
+        );
+
+        like(
+            dies { Test::MockFile->file_passthrough('') },
+            qr/No file provided/,
+            'dies with empty path',
+        );
+    }
+);
+
+done_testing();
+
+# Cleanup — use CORE:: to bypass Test::MockFile strict mode
+END {
+    if ( defined $dir ) {
+        CORE::unlink "$dir/$_" for qw(basic.txt delegate.txt regular.txt pass.txt scoped.txt);
+        CORE::rmdir $dir;
+    }
+}