diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c5e7e794..b6271041 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ Formatted as described on [https://keepachangelog.com](https://keepachangelog.co
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## Fixed
+
+- all required shapefile files (`.shp`, `.shx`, `.dbf`, `.prj`) are now copied to the new directory when saving a forcing object ([#430](https://github.com/eWaterCycle/ewatercycle/issues/430)).
+
 ### [2.3.0] (2024-08-29)
 
 ## Changed
diff --git a/src/ewatercycle/base/forcing.py b/src/ewatercycle/base/forcing.py
index 632545bc..6051b3a8 100644
--- a/src/ewatercycle/base/forcing.py
+++ b/src/ewatercycle/base/forcing.py
@@ -222,9 +222,23 @@ def save(self):
         # Copy shapefile so statistics like area can be derived
         if clone.shape is not None:
             if not clone.shape.is_relative_to(clone.directory):
-                clone.shape = Path(
+                new_shp_path = Path(
                     shutil.copy(clone.shape, clone.directory / clone.shape.name)
                 )
+                if not clone.shape.with_suffix(".prj").exists():
+                    msg = (
+                        "Your shape file is missing the .prj projection file.\n"
+                        "This file is required, as we cannot guess what projection your"
+                        "shapefile is in."
+                    )
+                    raise FileNotFoundError(msg)
+                # Also copy other required files:
+                for ext in [".dbf", ".shx", ".prj"]:
+                    shutil.copy(
+                        clone.shape.with_suffix(ext),
+                        clone.directory / clone.shape.with_suffix(ext).name,
+                    )
+                clone.shape = new_shp_path
             clone.shape = clone.shape.relative_to(clone.directory)
 
         fdict = clone.model_dump(exclude={"directory"}, exclude_none=True, mode="json")
diff --git a/tests/src/base/test_forcing.py b/tests/src/base/test_forcing.py
index 0e122034..aa10fd17 100644
--- a/tests/src/base/test_forcing.py
+++ b/tests/src/base/test_forcing.py
@@ -59,6 +59,10 @@ def test_save(self, tmp_path: Path, sample_shape: str):
 
         assert content == expected
 
+        # make sure all mandatory (shape)files exist
+        for ext in [".dbf", ".prj", ".shp", ".shx"]:
+            assert (forcing.directory / forcing.shape.with_suffix(ext)).exists()
+
 
 class TestGenericDistributedForcingWithInternalShape:
     def test_save(self, tmp_path: Path, sample_shape: str):