diff --git a/src/__tests__/unit/evaluation-options.test.ts b/src/__tests__/unit/evaluation-options.test.ts
index fa9850cc..268a7df1 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/unit/evaluation-options.test.ts
+++ b/src/__tests__/unit/evaluation-options.test.ts
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ describe('Evaluation options evaluator', () => {
       stackTrace: {
         saveState: false
       },
+      strictEvolve: true,
       strictSortKey: false,
       throwOnInternalWriteError: true,
       transactionsPagesPerBatch: null,
@@ -66,6 +67,7 @@ describe('Evaluation options evaluator', () => {
       stackTrace: {
         saveState: false
       },
+      strictEvolve: true,
       strictSortKey: false,
       throwOnInternalWriteError: true,
       transactionsPagesPerBatch: null,
@@ -101,6 +103,7 @@ describe('Evaluation options evaluator', () => {
       stackTrace: {
         saveState: false
       },
+      strictEvolve: true,
       strictSortKey: false,
       throwOnInternalWriteError: true,
       transactionsPagesPerBatch: null,
@@ -133,6 +136,7 @@ describe('Evaluation options evaluator', () => {
       stackTrace: {
         saveState: false
       },
+      strictEvolve: true,
       strictSortKey: false,
       throwOnInternalWriteError: true,
       transactionsPagesPerBatch: null,
@@ -165,6 +169,7 @@ describe('Evaluation options evaluator', () => {
       stackTrace: {
         saveState: false
       },
+      strictEvolve: true,
       strictSortKey: false,
       throwOnInternalWriteError: true,
       transactionsPagesPerBatch: null,
@@ -197,6 +202,7 @@ describe('Evaluation options evaluator', () => {
       stackTrace: {
         saveState: false
       },
+      strictEvolve: true,
       strictSortKey: false,
       throwOnInternalWriteError: true,
       transactionsPagesPerBatch: null,
diff --git a/src/contract/EvaluationOptionsEvaluator.ts b/src/contract/EvaluationOptionsEvaluator.ts
index 4118fb11..2cc9bf95 100644
--- a/src/contract/EvaluationOptionsEvaluator.ts
+++ b/src/contract/EvaluationOptionsEvaluator.ts
@@ -109,7 +109,8 @@ export class EvaluationOptionsEvaluator {
     useConstructor: (foreignOptions) => foreignOptions['useConstructor'],
     whitelistSources: () => this.rootOptions['whitelistSources'],
     transactionsPagesPerBatch: () => this.rootOptions['transactionsPagesPerBatch'],
-    strictSortKey: () => this.rootOptions['strictSortKey']
+    strictSortKey: () => this.rootOptions['strictSortKey'],
+    strictEvolve: () => this.rootOptions['strictEvolve']
   };
 
   private readonly notConflictingEvaluationOptions: (keyof EvaluationOptions)[] = [
diff --git a/src/core/modules/StateEvaluator.ts b/src/core/modules/StateEvaluator.ts
index 47502bbe..f04229ce 100644
--- a/src/core/modules/StateEvaluator.ts
+++ b/src/core/modules/StateEvaluator.ts
@@ -156,6 +156,8 @@ export class DefaultEvaluationOptions implements EvaluationOptions {
   transactionsPagesPerBatch = null;
 
   strictSortKey = false;
+
+  strictEvolve = true;
 }
 
 // an interface for the contract EvaluationOptions - can be used to change the behaviour of some features.
@@ -255,6 +257,9 @@ export interface EvaluationOptions {
   // - if it is, then we're requiring the SDK to have the state cached at this exact sortKey
   // - so that SDK won't load and evaluated missing interactions
   strictSortKey: boolean;
+
+  // whether NetworkCommunicationErrors during loading evolved sources are stopping contract evaluation
+  strictEvolve: boolean;
 }
 
 // https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/40678 duh...
diff --git a/src/plugins/Evolve.ts b/src/plugins/Evolve.ts
index ca3572a0..4bc67bce 100644
--- a/src/plugins/Evolve.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/Evolve.ts
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ export class Evolve implements ExecutionContextModifier {
     const contractTxId = executionContext.contractDefinition.txId;
     const evolvedSrcTxId = Evolve.evolvedSrcTxId(state);
     const currentSrcTxId = executionContext.contractDefinition.srcTxId;
+    const evaluationOptions = executionContext.evaluationOptions;
 
     if (evolvedSrcTxId) {
       if (currentSrcTxId !== evolvedSrcTxId) {
@@ -65,10 +66,17 @@ export class Evolve implements ExecutionContextModifier {
           ) {
             throw e;
           } else {
-            throw new SmartWeaveError(SmartWeaveErrorType.CONTRACT_NOT_FOUND, {
-              message: `Error while evolving ${contractTxId} from ${currentSrcTxId} to ${evolvedSrcTxId}: ${e}`,
-              requestedTxId: contractTxId
-            });
+            if (e.name === KnownErrors.NetworkCommunicationError && !evaluationOptions.strictEvolve) {
+              this.logger.warn(
+                `Error while evolving ${contractTxId} from ${currentSrcTxId} to ${evolvedSrcTxId}: ${e}`
+              );
+              return executionContext;
+            } else {
+              throw new SmartWeaveError(SmartWeaveErrorType.CONTRACT_NOT_FOUND, {
+                message: `Error while evolving ${contractTxId} from ${currentSrcTxId} to ${evolvedSrcTxId}: ${e}`,
+                requestedTxId: contractTxId
+              });
+            }
           }
         }
       }