diff --git a/.changeset/swift-cars-flow.md b/.changeset/swift-cars-flow.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5c75140
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/swift-cars-flow.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"rdf-validate-shacl": patch
+---
+
+Nodes targeted by `sh:targetNode` should fail validation even if they are not explicitly used in the Data Graph (fixes #107)
diff --git a/src/shapes-graph.ts b/src/shapes-graph.ts
index 9e6ba31..913612e 100644
--- a/src/shapes-graph.ts
+++ b/src/shapes-graph.ts
@@ -336,14 +336,7 @@ export class Shape {
       results.addAll(getInstancesOf(dataGraph.node(targetClass), ns))
     })
 
-    const targetNodes = this.shapeNodePointer.out(sh.targetNode).terms
-      // Ensure the node exists in data graph before considering it as a validatable target node
-      .filter((targetNode) => (
-        dataGraph.dataset.match(targetNode).size > 0 ||
-        dataGraph.dataset.match(null, targetNode).size > 0 ||
-        dataGraph.dataset.match(null, null, targetNode).size > 0
-      ))
-    results.addAll(targetNodes)
+    results.addAll(this.shapeNodePointer.out(sh.targetNode).terms)
 
     this.shapeNodePointer
       .out(sh.targetSubjectsOf)
diff --git a/test/data/data-shapes/custom/manifest.ttl b/test/data/data-shapes/custom/manifest.ttl
index fb78b47..689664a 100644
--- a/test/data/data-shapes/custom/manifest.ttl
+++ b/test/data/data-shapes/custom/manifest.ttl
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
 	mf:include <uniqueLang-false.ttl> ;
 	mf:include <multiLevelInheritance.ttl> ;
 	mf:include <multiLevelInheritanceWithImplicitTarget.ttl> ;
-	mf:include <targetNodeDoesNotExist.ttl> ;
 	mf:include <lessThan-moreTypes.ttl> ;
 	mf:include <circularReferences.ttl> ;
 	mf:include <and-minCount.ttl> ;
diff --git a/test/data/data-shapes/custom/targetNodeDoesNotExist-data.ttl b/test/data/data-shapes/custom/targetNodeDoesNotExist-data.ttl
deleted file mode 100644
index 0d34d3c..0000000
--- a/test/data/data-shapes/custom/targetNodeDoesNotExist-data.ttl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-# This data graph is empty on purpose
diff --git a/test/data/data-shapes/custom/targetNodeDoesNotExist.ttl b/test/data/data-shapes/custom/targetNodeDoesNotExist.ttl
deleted file mode 100644
index 1526f26..0000000
--- a/test/data/data-shapes/custom/targetNodeDoesNotExist.ttl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
-@prefix ex: <http://datashapes.org/sh/tests/core/property/uniqueLang-001.test#> .
-@prefix mf: <http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/DataAccess/tests/test-manifest#> .
-@prefix rdf: <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#> .
-@prefix rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .
-@prefix sh: <http://www.w3.org/ns/shacl#> .
-@prefix sht: <http://www.w3.org/ns/shacl-test#> .
-@prefix xsd: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
-
-<>
-  rdf:type mf:Manifest ;
-  mf:entries ( <targetNodeDoesNotExist> ) ;
-.
-
-<targetNodeDoesNotExist>
-  rdf:type sht:Validate ;
-  rdfs:label "Test of sh:targetNode absent from data graph" ;
-  mf:action [
-    sht:dataGraph <targetNodeDoesNotExist-data.ttl> ;
-    sht:shapesGraph <> ;
-  ] ;
-  mf:result [
-    rdf:type sh:ValidationReport ;
-    sh:conforms "true"^^xsd:boolean ;
-  ] ;
-  mf:status sht:proposed ;
-.
-
-ex:MyShape
-  rdf:type sh:NodeShape ;
-  sh:targetNode ex:Instance1 ;
-  sh:class ex:TheClass ;
-.