diff --git a/src/materialized/dependencies.rs b/src/materialized/dependencies.rs
index 3afbd96..5b42692 100644
--- a/src/materialized/dependencies.rs
+++ b/src/materialized/dependencies.rs
@@ -187,9 +187,18 @@ impl TableFunctionImpl for StaleFilesUdtf {
                     )?
                     .aggregate(
                         vec![
-                            // Trim the final path element
-                            regexp_replace(col("file_path"), lit(r"/[^/]*$"), lit("/"), None)
-                                .alias("existing_target"),
+                            // We want to omit the file name along with any "special" partitions
+                            // from the path before comparing it to the target partition. Special
+                            // partitions must be leaf most nodes and are designated by a leading
+                            // underscore. These are useful for adding additional information to a
+                            // filename without affecting partitioning or staleness checks.
+                            regexp_replace(
+                                col("file_path"),
+                                lit(r"(/_[^/=]+=[^/]+)*/[^/]*$"),
+                                lit("/"),
+                                None,
+                            )
+                            .alias("existing_target"),
                         ],
                         vec![max(col("last_modified")).alias("target_last_modified")],
                     )?
@@ -1169,8 +1178,7 @@ mod test {
         }
 
         let cases = &[
-            TestCase {
-                name: "un-transformed partition column",
+            TestCase { name: "un-transformed partition column",
                 query_to_analyze:
                     "SELECT column1 AS partition_column, concat(column2, column3) AS some_value FROM t1",
                 table_name: "m1",
@@ -1202,6 +1210,38 @@ mod test {
                     "+--------------------------------+----------------------+-----------------------+----------+",
                 ],
             },
+            TestCase { name: "omit 'special' partition columns",
+                query_to_analyze:
+                    "SELECT column1 AS partition_column, concat(column2, column3) AS some_value FROM t1",
+                table_name: "m1",
+                table_path: ListingTableUrl::parse("s3://m1/").unwrap(),
+                partition_cols: vec!["partition_column"],
+                file_extension: ".parquet",
+                expected_output: vec![
+                    "+--------------------------------+----------------------+---------------------+-------------------+--------------------------------------+----------------------+",
+                    "| target                         | source_table_catalog | source_table_schema | source_table_name | source_uri                           | source_last_modified |",
+                    "+--------------------------------+----------------------+---------------------+-------------------+--------------------------------------+----------------------+",
+                    "| s3://m1/partition_column=2021/ | datafusion           | test                | t1                | s3://t1/column1=2021/data.01.parquet | 2023-07-11T16:29:26  |",
+                    "| s3://m1/partition_column=2022/ | datafusion           | test                | t1                | s3://t1/column1=2022/data.01.parquet | 2023-07-11T16:45:22  |",
+                    "| s3://m1/partition_column=2023/ | datafusion           | test                | t1                | s3://t1/column1=2023/data.01.parquet | 2023-07-11T16:45:44  |",
+                    "+--------------------------------+----------------------+---------------------+-------------------+--------------------------------------+----------------------+",
+                ],
+                // second file is old
+                file_metadata: "
+                    ('datafusion', 'test', 'm1', 's3://m1/partition_column=2021/_v=123/data.01.parquet', '2023-07-12T16:00:00Z', 0),
+                    ('datafusion', 'test', 'm1', 's3://m1/partition_column=2022/_v=123/data.01.parquet', '2023-07-10T16:00:00Z', 0),
+                    ('datafusion', 'test', 'm1', 's3://m1/partition_column=2023/_v=123/data.01.parquet', '2023-07-12T16:00:00Z', 0)
+                ",
+                expected_stale_files_output: vec![
+                    "+--------------------------------+----------------------+-----------------------+----------+",
+                    "| target                         | target_last_modified | sources_last_modified | is_stale |",
+                    "+--------------------------------+----------------------+-----------------------+----------+",
+                    "| s3://m1/partition_column=2021/ | 2023-07-12T16:00:00  | 2023-07-11T16:29:26   | false    |",
+                    "| s3://m1/partition_column=2022/ | 2023-07-10T16:00:00  | 2023-07-11T16:45:22   | true     |",
+                    "| s3://m1/partition_column=2023/ | 2023-07-12T16:00:00  | 2023-07-11T16:45:44   | false    |",
+                    "+--------------------------------+----------------------+-----------------------+----------+",
+                ],
+            },
             TestCase {
                 name: "transform year/month/day partition into timestamp partition",
                 query_to_analyze: "