diff --git a/Documentation/fsck-msgids.txt b/Documentation/fsck-msgids.txt
index 6db0eaa84a..dcea05edfc 100644
--- a/Documentation/fsck-msgids.txt
+++ b/Documentation/fsck-msgids.txt
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@
 `badRefName`::
 	(ERROR) A ref has an invalid format.
 
+`badReferentName`::
+	(ERROR) The referent name of a symref is invalid.
+
 `badTagName`::
 	(INFO) A tag has an invalid format.
 
diff --git a/fsck.h b/fsck.h
index b85072df57..5227dfdef2 100644
--- a/fsck.h
+++ b/fsck.h
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ enum fsck_msg_type {
 	FUNC(BAD_REF_CONTENT, ERROR) \
 	FUNC(BAD_REF_FILETYPE, ERROR) \
 	FUNC(BAD_REF_NAME, ERROR) \
+	FUNC(BAD_REFERENT_NAME, ERROR) \
 	FUNC(BAD_TIMEZONE, ERROR) \
 	FUNC(BAD_TREE, ERROR) \
 	FUNC(BAD_TREE_SHA1, ERROR) \
diff --git a/refs/files-backend.c b/refs/files-backend.c
index 3d4d612420..f4342e3f3e 100644
--- a/refs/files-backend.c
+++ b/refs/files-backend.c
@@ -3509,6 +3509,43 @@ typedef int (*files_fsck_refs_fn)(struct ref_store *ref_store,
 				  const char *refname,
 				  struct dir_iterator *iter);
 
+static int files_fsck_symref_target(struct fsck_options *o,
+				    struct fsck_ref_report *report,
+				    struct strbuf *referent)
+{
+	char orig_last_byte;
+	size_t orig_len;
+	int ret = 0;
+
+	orig_len = referent->len;
+	orig_last_byte = referent->buf[orig_len - 1];
+	strbuf_rtrim(referent);
+
+	if (!is_root_ref(referent->buf) &&
+	    check_refname_format(referent->buf, 0)) {
+		ret = fsck_report_ref(o, report,
+				      FSCK_MSG_BAD_REFERENT_NAME,
+				      "points to invalid refname '%s'", referent->buf);
+		goto out;
+	}
+
+	if (referent->len == orig_len ||
+	    (referent->len < orig_len && orig_last_byte != '\n')) {
+		ret = fsck_report_ref(o, report,
+				      FSCK_MSG_REF_MISSING_NEWLINE,
+				      "misses LF at the end");
+	}
+
+	if (referent->len != orig_len && referent->len != orig_len - 1) {
+		ret = fsck_report_ref(o, report,
+				      FSCK_MSG_TRAILING_REF_CONTENT,
+				      "has trailing whitespaces or newlines");
+	}
+
+out:
+	return ret;
+}
+
 static int files_fsck_refs_content(struct ref_store *ref_store,
 				   struct fsck_options *o,
 				   const char *target_name,
@@ -3563,6 +3600,9 @@ static int files_fsck_refs_content(struct ref_store *ref_store,
 					      "has trailing garbage: '%s'", trailing);
 			goto cleanup;
 		}
+	} else {
+		ret = files_fsck_symref_target(o, &report, &referent);
+		goto cleanup;
 	}
 
 cleanup:
diff --git a/t/t0602-reffiles-fsck.sh b/t/t0602-reffiles-fsck.sh
index 33e7a390ad..ee1e5f2864 100755
--- a/t/t0602-reffiles-fsck.sh
+++ b/t/t0602-reffiles-fsck.sh
@@ -263,6 +263,109 @@ test_expect_success 'regular ref content should be checked (aggregate)' '
 	test_cmp expect sorted_err
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'textual symref content should be checked (individual)' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
+	git init repo &&
+	branch_dir_prefix=.git/refs/heads &&
+	cd repo &&
+	test_commit default &&
+	mkdir -p "$branch_dir_prefix/a/b" &&
+
+	for good_referent in "refs/heads/branch" "HEAD"
+	do
+		printf "ref: %s\n" $good_referent >$branch_dir_prefix/branch-good &&
+		git refs verify 2>err &&
+		rm $branch_dir_prefix/branch-good &&
+		test_must_be_empty err || return 1
+	done &&
+
+	for bad_referent in "refs/heads/.branch" "refs/heads/~branch" "refs/heads/?branch"
+	do
+		printf "ref: %s\n" $bad_referent >$branch_dir_prefix/branch-bad &&
+		test_must_fail git refs verify 2>err &&
+		cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+		error: refs/heads/branch-bad: badReferentName: points to invalid refname '\''$bad_referent'\''
+		EOF
+		rm $branch_dir_prefix/branch-bad &&
+		test_cmp expect err || return 1
+	done &&
+
+	printf "ref: refs/heads/branch" >$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 $branch_dir_prefix/branch-no-newline &&
+	test_cmp expect err &&
+
+	printf "ref: refs/heads/branch     " >$branch_dir_prefix/a/b/branch-trailing-1 &&
+	git refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	warning: refs/heads/a/b/branch-trailing-1: refMissingNewline: misses LF at the end
+	warning: refs/heads/a/b/branch-trailing-1: trailingRefContent: has trailing whitespaces or newlines
+	EOF
+	rm $branch_dir_prefix/a/b/branch-trailing-1 &&
+	test_cmp expect err &&
+
+	printf "ref: refs/heads/branch\n\n" >$branch_dir_prefix/a/b/branch-trailing-2 &&
+	git refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	warning: refs/heads/a/b/branch-trailing-2: trailingRefContent: has trailing whitespaces or newlines
+	EOF
+	rm $branch_dir_prefix/a/b/branch-trailing-2 &&
+	test_cmp expect err &&
+
+	printf "ref: refs/heads/branch \n" >$branch_dir_prefix/a/b/branch-trailing-3 &&
+	git refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	warning: refs/heads/a/b/branch-trailing-3: trailingRefContent: has trailing whitespaces or newlines
+	EOF
+	rm $branch_dir_prefix/a/b/branch-trailing-3 &&
+	test_cmp expect err &&
+
+	printf "ref: refs/heads/branch \n  " >$branch_dir_prefix/a/b/branch-complicated &&
+	git refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	warning: refs/heads/a/b/branch-complicated: refMissingNewline: misses LF at the end
+	warning: refs/heads/a/b/branch-complicated: trailingRefContent: has trailing whitespaces or newlines
+	EOF
+	rm $branch_dir_prefix/a/b/branch-complicated &&
+	test_cmp expect err
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'textual symref content should be checked (aggregate)' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
+	git init repo &&
+	branch_dir_prefix=.git/refs/heads &&
+	tag_dir_prefix=.git/refs/tags &&
+	cd repo &&
+	test_commit default &&
+	mkdir -p "$branch_dir_prefix/a/b" &&
+
+	printf "ref: refs/heads/branch\n" >$branch_dir_prefix/branch-good &&
+	printf "ref: HEAD\n" >$branch_dir_prefix/branch-head &&
+	printf "ref: refs/heads/branch" >$branch_dir_prefix/branch-no-newline-1 &&
+	printf "ref: refs/heads/branch     " >$branch_dir_prefix/a/b/branch-trailing-1 &&
+	printf "ref: refs/heads/branch\n\n" >$branch_dir_prefix/a/b/branch-trailing-2 &&
+	printf "ref: refs/heads/branch \n" >$branch_dir_prefix/a/b/branch-trailing-3 &&
+	printf "ref: refs/heads/branch \n  " >$branch_dir_prefix/a/b/branch-complicated &&
+	printf "ref: refs/heads/.branch\n" >$branch_dir_prefix/branch-bad-1 &&
+
+	test_must_fail git refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	error: refs/heads/branch-bad-1: badReferentName: points to invalid refname '\''refs/heads/.branch'\''
+	warning: refs/heads/a/b/branch-complicated: refMissingNewline: misses LF at the end
+	warning: refs/heads/a/b/branch-complicated: trailingRefContent: has trailing whitespaces or newlines
+	warning: refs/heads/a/b/branch-trailing-1: refMissingNewline: misses LF at the end
+	warning: refs/heads/a/b/branch-trailing-1: trailingRefContent: has trailing whitespaces or newlines
+	warning: refs/heads/a/b/branch-trailing-2: trailingRefContent: has trailing whitespaces or newlines
+	warning: refs/heads/a/b/branch-trailing-3: trailingRefContent: has trailing whitespaces or newlines
+	warning: refs/heads/branch-no-newline-1: refMissingNewline: misses LF at the end
+	EOF
+	sort err >sorted_err &&
+	test_cmp expect sorted_err
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'ref content checks should work with worktrees' '
 	test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
 	git init repo &&
@@ -313,6 +416,14 @@ test_expect_success 'ref content checks should work with worktrees' '
 	warning: worktrees/worktree-1/refs/worktree/branch-no-newline: refMissingNewline: misses LF at the end
 	EOF
 	rm $worktree1_refdir_prefix/branch-no-newline &&
+	test_cmp expect err &&
+
+	printf "%s garbage" "$(git rev-parse HEAD)" >$worktree1_refdir_prefix/branch-garbage &&
+	git refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	warning: worktrees/worktree-1/refs/worktree/branch-garbage: trailingRefContent: has trailing garbage: '\'' garbage'\''
+	EOF
+	rm $worktree1_refdir_prefix/branch-garbage &&
 	test_cmp expect err
 '