A reticle defect inspection apparatus that controls damage of a reticle by irradiation with an inspection light when the reticle is caused to be at rest is provided. The reticle defect inspection apparatus is a reticle defect inspection apparatus for inspecting for defects on a reticle using a pattern image obtained by irradiating the reticle on which a pattern is formed with light. The reticle defect inspection apparatus has a dose monitoring part for measuring a dose of the light to the reticle, a comparing part for comparing, after calculating accumulated irradiation from the dose measured by the dose monitoring part, the accumulated irradiation with a preset threshold, and a stop mechanism for stopping irradiation of the reticle with the light when, as a result of the comparison, the accumulated irradiation exceeds the threshold.