diff --git a/Documentation/fsck-msgids.txt b/Documentation/fsck-msgids.txt
index 22c385ea22..6db0eaa84a 100644
--- a/Documentation/fsck-msgids.txt
+++ b/Documentation/fsck-msgids.txt
@@ -173,6 +173,20 @@
 `nullSha1`::
 	(WARN) Tree contains entries pointing to a null sha1.
 
+`refMissingNewline`::
+	(INFO) A loose ref that does not end with newline(LF). As
+	valid implementations of Git never created such a loose ref
+	file, it may become an error in the future. Report to the
+	git@vger.kernel.org mailing list if you see this error, as
+	we need to know what tools created such a file.
+
+`trailingRefContent`::
+	(INFO) A loose ref has trailing content. As valid implementations
+	of Git never created such a loose ref file, it may become an
+	error in the future. Report to the git@vger.kernel.org mailing
+	list if you see this error, as we need to know what tools
+	created such a file.
+
 `treeNotSorted`::
 	(ERROR) A tree is not properly sorted.
 
diff --git a/fsck.h b/fsck.h
index 0d99a87911..b85072df57 100644
--- a/fsck.h
+++ b/fsck.h
@@ -85,6 +85,8 @@ enum fsck_msg_type {
 	FUNC(MAILMAP_SYMLINK, INFO) \
 	FUNC(BAD_TAG_NAME, INFO) \
 	FUNC(MISSING_TAGGER_ENTRY, INFO) \
+	FUNC(REF_MISSING_NEWLINE, INFO) \
+	FUNC(TRAILING_REF_CONTENT, INFO) \
 	/* ignored (elevated when requested) */ \
 	FUNC(EXTRA_HEADER_ENTRY, IGNORE)
 
diff --git a/refs.c b/refs.c
index 395a17273c..f88b32a633 100644
--- a/refs.c
+++ b/refs.c
@@ -1789,7 +1789,7 @@ static int refs_read_special_head(struct ref_store *ref_store,
 	}
 
 	result = parse_loose_ref_contents(ref_store->repo->hash_algo, content.buf,
-					  oid, referent, type, failure_errno);
+					  oid, referent, type, NULL, failure_errno);
 
 done:
 	strbuf_release(&full_path);
diff --git a/refs/files-backend.c b/refs/files-backend.c
index 9f300a7d3c..3d4d612420 100644
--- a/refs/files-backend.c
+++ b/refs/files-backend.c
@@ -569,7 +569,7 @@ stat_ref:
 	buf = sb_contents.buf;
 
 	ret = parse_loose_ref_contents(ref_store->repo->hash_algo, buf,
-				       oid, referent, type, &myerr);
+				       oid, referent, type, NULL, &myerr);
 
 out:
 	if (ret && !myerr)
@@ -606,7 +606,7 @@ static int files_read_symbolic_ref(struct ref_store *ref_store, const char *refn
 int parse_loose_ref_contents(const struct git_hash_algo *algop,
 			     const char *buf, struct object_id *oid,
 			     struct strbuf *referent, unsigned int *type,
-			     int *failure_errno)
+			     const char **trailing, int *failure_errno)
 {
 	const char *p;
 	if (skip_prefix(buf, "ref:", &buf)) {
@@ -628,6 +628,10 @@ int parse_loose_ref_contents(const struct git_hash_algo *algop,
 		*failure_errno = EINVAL;
 		return -1;
 	}
+
+	if (trailing)
+		*trailing = p;
+
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -3513,6 +3517,7 @@ static int files_fsck_refs_content(struct ref_store *ref_store,
 	struct strbuf ref_content = STRBUF_INIT;
 	struct strbuf referent = STRBUF_INIT;
 	struct fsck_ref_report report = { 0 };
+	const char *trailing = NULL;
 	unsigned int type = 0;
 	int failure_errno = 0;
 	struct object_id oid;
@@ -3537,7 +3542,7 @@ static int files_fsck_refs_content(struct ref_store *ref_store,
 
 	if (parse_loose_ref_contents(ref_store->repo->hash_algo,
 				     ref_content.buf, &oid, &referent,
-				     &type, &failure_errno)) {
+				     &type, &trailing, &failure_errno)) {
 		strbuf_rtrim(&ref_content);
 		ret = fsck_report_ref(o, &report,
 				      FSCK_MSG_BAD_REF_CONTENT,
@@ -3545,6 +3550,21 @@ static int files_fsck_refs_content(struct ref_store *ref_store,
 		goto cleanup;
 	}
 
+	if (!(type & REF_ISSYMREF)) {
+		if (!*trailing) {
+			ret = fsck_report_ref(o, &report,
+					      FSCK_MSG_REF_MISSING_NEWLINE,
+					      "misses LF at the end");
+			goto cleanup;
+		}
+		if (*trailing != '\n' || *(trailing + 1)) {
+			ret = fsck_report_ref(o, &report,
+					      FSCK_MSG_TRAILING_REF_CONTENT,
+					      "has trailing garbage: '%s'", trailing);
+			goto cleanup;
+		}
+	}
+
 cleanup:
 	strbuf_release(&ref_content);
 	strbuf_release(&referent);
diff --git a/refs/refs-internal.h b/refs/refs-internal.h
index 037d7991cd..125f1fe735 100644
--- a/refs/refs-internal.h
+++ b/refs/refs-internal.h
@@ -716,7 +716,7 @@ struct ref_store {
 int parse_loose_ref_contents(const struct git_hash_algo *algop,
 			     const char *buf, struct object_id *oid,
 			     struct strbuf *referent, unsigned int *type,
-			     int *failure_errno);
+			     const char **trailing, int *failure_errno);
 
 /*
  * Fill in the generic part of refs and add it to our collection of
diff --git a/t/t0602-reffiles-fsck.sh b/t/t0602-reffiles-fsck.sh
index 162370077b..33e7a390ad 100755
--- a/t/t0602-reffiles-fsck.sh
+++ b/t/t0602-reffiles-fsck.sh
@@ -189,7 +189,48 @@ test_expect_success 'regular ref content should be checked (individual)' '
 		EOF
 		rm $branch_dir_prefix/a/b/branch-bad &&
 		test_cmp expect err || return 1
-	done
+	done &&
+
+	printf "%s" "$(git rev-parse main)" >$branch_dir_prefix/branch-no-newline &&
+	git refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	warning: refs/heads/branch-no-newline: refMissingNewline: misses LF at the end
+	EOF
+	rm $branch_dir_prefix/branch-no-newline &&
+	test_cmp expect err &&
+
+	for trailing_content in " garbage" "    more garbage"
+	do
+		printf "%s" "$(git rev-parse main)$trailing_content" >$branch_dir_prefix/branch-garbage &&
+		git refs verify 2>err &&
+		cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+		warning: refs/heads/branch-garbage: trailingRefContent: has trailing garbage: '\''$trailing_content'\''
+		EOF
+		rm $branch_dir_prefix/branch-garbage &&
+		test_cmp expect err || return 1
+	done &&
+
+	printf "%s\n\n\n" "$(git rev-parse main)" >$branch_dir_prefix/branch-garbage-special &&
+	git refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	warning: refs/heads/branch-garbage-special: trailingRefContent: has trailing garbage: '\''
+
+
+	'\''
+	EOF
+	rm $branch_dir_prefix/branch-garbage-special &&
+	test_cmp expect err &&
+
+	printf "%s\n\n\n  garbage" "$(git rev-parse main)" >$branch_dir_prefix/branch-garbage-special &&
+	git refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	warning: refs/heads/branch-garbage-special: trailingRefContent: has trailing garbage: '\''
+
+
+	  garbage'\''
+	EOF
+	rm $branch_dir_prefix/branch-garbage-special &&
+	test_cmp expect err
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'regular ref content should be checked (aggregate)' '
@@ -207,12 +248,16 @@ test_expect_success 'regular ref content should be checked (aggregate)' '
 	printf "%s" $bad_content_1 >$tag_dir_prefix/tag-bad-1 &&
 	printf "%s" $bad_content_2 >$tag_dir_prefix/tag-bad-2 &&
 	printf "%s" $bad_content_3 >$branch_dir_prefix/a/b/branch-bad &&
+	printf "%s" "$(git rev-parse main)" >$branch_dir_prefix/branch-no-newline &&
+	printf "%s garbage" "$(git rev-parse main)" >$branch_dir_prefix/branch-garbage &&
 
 	test_must_fail git refs verify 2>err &&
 	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
 	error: refs/heads/a/b/branch-bad: badRefContent: $bad_content_3
 	error: refs/tags/tag-bad-1: badRefContent: $bad_content_1
 	error: refs/tags/tag-bad-2: badRefContent: $bad_content_2
+	warning: refs/heads/branch-garbage: trailingRefContent: has trailing garbage: '\'' garbage'\''
+	warning: refs/heads/branch-no-newline: refMissingNewline: misses LF at the end
 	EOF
 	sort err >sorted_err &&
 	test_cmp expect sorted_err
@@ -260,7 +305,15 @@ test_expect_success 'ref content checks should work with worktrees' '
 		EOF
 		rm $worktree2_refdir_prefix/bad-branch-2 &&
 		test_cmp expect err || return 1
-	done
+	done &&
+
+	printf "%s" "$(git rev-parse HEAD)" >$worktree1_refdir_prefix/branch-no-newline &&
+	git refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	warning: worktrees/worktree-1/refs/worktree/branch-no-newline: refMissingNewline: misses LF at the end
+	EOF
+	rm $worktree1_refdir_prefix/branch-no-newline &&
+	test_cmp expect err
 '
 
 test_done