diff --git a/apps/api-extractor/src/api/ExtractorConfig.ts b/apps/api-extractor/src/api/ExtractorConfig.ts
index 60e1904ad4..33192aa2e2 100644
--- a/apps/api-extractor/src/api/ExtractorConfig.ts
+++ b/apps/api-extractor/src/api/ExtractorConfig.ts
@@ -136,6 +136,14 @@ export interface IExtractorConfigPrepareOptions {
    * `@microsoft/api-extractor/extends/tsdoc-base.json`.
    */
   tsdocConfigFile?: TSDocConfigFile;
+
+  /**
+   * When preparing the configuration object, folder and file paths referenced in the configuration are checked
+   * for existence, and an error is reported if they are not found.  This option can be used to disable this
+   * check for the main entry point module. This may be useful when preparing a configuration file for an
+   * un-built project.
+   */
+  ignoreMissingEntryPoint?: boolean;
 }
 
 interface IExtractorConfigParameters {
@@ -811,7 +819,7 @@ export class ExtractorConfig {
         );
       }
 
-      if (!FileSystem.exists(mainEntryPointFilePath)) {
+      if (!options.ignoreMissingEntryPoint && !FileSystem.exists(mainEntryPointFilePath)) {
         throw new Error('The "mainEntryPointFilePath" path does not exist: ' + mainEntryPointFilePath);
       }
 
diff --git a/common/changes/@microsoft/api-extractor/user-danade-ApiExtractorConfigLoad_2022-06-15-22-45.json b/common/changes/@microsoft/api-extractor/user-danade-ApiExtractorConfigLoad_2022-06-15-22-45.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4e80aeec12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/changes/@microsoft/api-extractor/user-danade-ApiExtractorConfigLoad_2022-06-15-22-45.json
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+{
+  "changes": [
+    {
+      "packageName": "@microsoft/api-extractor",
+      "comment": "Add support for the \"ignoreMissingEntryPoint\" ExtractorConfig option to allow for loading an ExtractorConfig before the target project is built.",
+      "type": "minor"
+    }
+  ],
+  "packageName": "@microsoft/api-extractor"
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/common/reviews/api/api-extractor.api.md b/common/reviews/api/api-extractor.api.md
index 55170ad404..476b16e9b0 100644
--- a/common/reviews/api/api-extractor.api.md
+++ b/common/reviews/api/api-extractor.api.md
@@ -243,6 +243,7 @@ export interface IExtractorConfigLoadForFolderOptions {
 export interface IExtractorConfigPrepareOptions {
     configObject: IConfigFile;
     configObjectFullPath: string | undefined;
+    ignoreMissingEntryPoint?: boolean;
     packageJson?: INodePackageJson | undefined;
     packageJsonFullPath: string | undefined;
     projectFolderLookupToken?: string;