diff --git a/doc/api/cli.md b/doc/api/cli.md
index e213d055b8e..e956d79a50b 100644
--- a/doc/api/cli.md
+++ b/doc/api/cli.md
@@ -3726,8 +3726,9 @@ Enable the [module compile cache][] for the Node.js instance. See the documentat
 
 ### `NODE_COMPILE_CACHE_PORTABLE=1`
 
-When set to 1, the [module compile cache][]  can be reused across different directory
-locations as long as the module layout relative to the cache directory remains the same.
+When set to 1, the [module compile cache][] can be reused across different directory
+locations as long as the module layout relative to the cache directory remains the same,
+and by any user (the cache subdirectory is not suffixed with the creating user's uid).
 
 ### `NODE_DEBUG=module[,…]`
 
diff --git a/doc/api/module.md b/doc/api/module.md
index 956b10942ba..2cc52fb00d1 100644
--- a/doc/api/module.md
+++ b/doc/api/module.md
@@ -407,6 +407,14 @@ to the cache directory remains the same. This would be done on a best-effort bas
 Node.js cannot compute the location of a module relative to the cache directory, the module
 will not be cached.
 
+A portable cache is also not split by user: on platforms with uids the
+cache subdirectory of a non-portable cache is suffixed with the uid of the
+user who created it, so it is only found by that user, while a portable
+cache uses the same subdirectory for every user. This lets a cache generated
+once (for example at build time, then shipped read-only with an application)
+be read by whoever runs the code; a user who cannot write to the directory
+still reads it, and a failed write only means the module is compiled again.
+
 There are two ways to enable the portable mode:
 
 1. Using the portable option in [`module.enableCompileCache()`][]:
diff --git a/src/compile_cache.cc b/src/compile_cache.cc
index dd097acd86f..f24a26e9bab 100644
--- a/src/compile_cache.cc
+++ b/src/compile_cache.cc
@@ -44,16 +44,23 @@ uint32_t GetHash(const char* data, size_t size) {
   return crc32(crc, reinterpret_cast<const Bytef*>(data), size);
 }
 
-std::string GetCacheVersionTag() {
+std::string GetCacheVersionTag(EnableOption option) {
+  std::string tag = std::string(NODE_VERSION) + '-' + std::string(NODE_ARCH) +
+                    '-' + Uint32ToHex(ScriptCompiler::CachedDataVersionTag());
+#ifdef NODE_IMPLEMENTS_POSIX_CREDENTIALS
   // On platforms where uids are available, use different folders for
   // different users to avoid cache miss due to permission incompatibility.
   // On platforms where uids are not available, bare with the cache miss.
   // This should be fine on Windows, as there local directories tend to be
   // user-specific.
-  std::string tag = std::string(NODE_VERSION) + '-' + std::string(NODE_ARCH) +
-                    '-' + Uint32ToHex(ScriptCompiler::CachedDataVersionTag());
-#ifdef NODE_IMPLEMENTS_POSIX_CREDENTIALS
-  tag += '-' + std::to_string(getuid());
+  // A portable cache is meant to be reused wherever the same layout is
+  // found, including by other users (e.g. a cache generated at build time
+  // and shipped read-only with an application), so it is not split by uid:
+  // a user who cannot write to it still reads it, and a failed write is
+  // only a cache miss.
+  if (option != EnableOption::PORTABLE) {
+    tag += '-' + std::to_string(getuid());
+  }
 #endif
   return tag;
 }
@@ -532,11 +539,12 @@ CompileCacheHandler::CompileCacheHandler(Environment* env)
 // Directory structure:
 // - Compile cache directory (from NODE_COMPILE_CACHE)
 //   - $NODE_VERSION-$ARCH-$CACHE_DATA_VERSION_TAG-$UID
+//     ($UID is omitted for a portable cache)
 //     - $FILENAME_AND_MODULE_TYPE_HASH.cache: a hash of filename + module type
 CompileCacheEnableResult CompileCacheHandler::Enable(Environment* env,
                                                      const std::string& dir,
                                                      EnableOption option) {
-  std::string cache_tag = GetCacheVersionTag();
+  std::string cache_tag = GetCacheVersionTag(option);
   std::string absolute_cache_dir_base = PathResolve(env, {dir});
   std::string cache_dir_with_tag =
       absolute_cache_dir_base + kPathSeparator + cache_tag;
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-compile-cache-api-portable.js b/test/parallel/test-compile-cache-api-portable.js
index 3c7c84b3220..620b3bdce87 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-compile-cache-api-portable.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-compile-cache-api-portable.js
@@ -57,6 +57,14 @@ const NODE_TEST_COMPILE_CACHE_OPTIONS = JSON.stringify({ directory: cacheRel, po
   );
 }
 
+// The cache subdirectory of a portable cache is not suffixed with the uid,
+// so a cache generated by one user is found by another.
+{
+  const [tag] = fs.readdirSync(path.join(workDir, cacheRel));
+  // $NODE_VERSION-$ARCH-$CACHE_DATA_VERSION_TAG, with no -$UID.
+  assert.match(tag, new RegExp(`^${process.version}-${process.arch}-[0-9a-f]+$`));
+}
+
 // Second run — moved directory, but same relative cache path
 {
   const movedWorkDir = `${workDir}_moved`;