diff --git a/builtin/pack-objects.c b/builtin/pack-objects.c
index 8cb32763b7..f513138513 100644
--- a/builtin/pack-objects.c
+++ b/builtin/pack-objects.c
@@ -3122,6 +3122,7 @@ static void read_packs_list_from_stdin(void)
 	revs.blob_objects = 1;
 	revs.tree_objects = 1;
 	revs.tag_objects = 1;
+	revs.ignore_missing_links = 1;
 
 	while (strbuf_getline(&buf, stdin) != EOF) {
 		if (!buf.len)
diff --git a/t/t5300-pack-object.sh b/t/t5300-pack-object.sh
index 7138a54595..ab509e8c38 100755
--- a/t/t5300-pack-object.sh
+++ b/t/t5300-pack-object.sh
@@ -629,4 +629,42 @@ test_expect_success '--stdin-packs with loose objects' '
 	)
 '
 
+test_expect_success '--stdin-packs with broken links' '
+	(
+		cd stdin-packs &&
+
+		# make an unreachable object with a bogus parent
+		git cat-file -p HEAD >commit &&
+		sed "s/$(git rev-parse HEAD^)/$(test_oid zero)/" <commit |
+		git hash-object -w -t commit --stdin >in &&
+
+		git pack-objects .git/objects/pack/pack-D <in &&
+
+		PACK_A="$(basename .git/objects/pack/pack-A-*.pack)" &&
+		PACK_B="$(basename .git/objects/pack/pack-B-*.pack)" &&
+		PACK_C="$(basename .git/objects/pack/pack-C-*.pack)" &&
+		PACK_D="$(basename .git/objects/pack/pack-D-*.pack)" &&
+
+		git pack-objects test3 --stdin-packs --unpacked <<-EOF &&
+		$PACK_A
+		^$PACK_B
+		$PACK_C
+		$PACK_D
+		EOF
+
+		(
+			git show-index <$(ls .git/objects/pack/pack-A-*.idx) &&
+			git show-index <$(ls .git/objects/pack/pack-C-*.idx) &&
+			git show-index <$(ls .git/objects/pack/pack-D-*.idx) &&
+			git rev-list --objects --no-object-names \
+				refs/tags/C..refs/tags/D
+		) >expect.raw &&
+		git show-index <$(ls test3-*.idx) >actual.raw &&
+
+		cut -d" " -f2 <expect.raw | sort >expect &&
+		cut -d" " -f2 <actual.raw | sort >actual &&
+		test_cmp expect actual
+	)
+'
+
 test_done