diff --git a/Documentation/fsck-msgids.txt b/Documentation/fsck-msgids.txt
index 68a2801f15..fc074fc571 100644
--- a/Documentation/fsck-msgids.txt
+++ b/Documentation/fsck-msgids.txt
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@
 `badParentSha1`::
 	(ERROR) A commit object has a bad parent sha1.
 
+`badRefContent`::
+	(ERROR) A ref has a bad content.
+
 `badRefFiletype`::
 	(ERROR) A ref has a bad file type.
 
@@ -170,6 +173,12 @@
 `nullSha1`::
 	(WARN) Tree contains entries pointing to a null sha1.
 
+`refMissingNewline`::
+	(INFO) A valid ref does not end with newline.
+
+`trailingRefContent`::
+	(INFO) A ref has trailing contents.
+
 `treeNotSorted`::
 	(ERROR) A tree is not properly sorted.
 
diff --git a/fsck.h b/fsck.h
index 500b4c04d2..b85072df57 100644
--- a/fsck.h
+++ b/fsck.h
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ enum fsck_msg_type {
 	FUNC(BAD_NAME, ERROR) \
 	FUNC(BAD_OBJECT_SHA1, ERROR) \
 	FUNC(BAD_PARENT_SHA1, ERROR) \
+	FUNC(BAD_REF_CONTENT, ERROR) \
 	FUNC(BAD_REF_FILETYPE, ERROR) \
 	FUNC(BAD_REF_NAME, ERROR) \
 	FUNC(BAD_TIMEZONE, ERROR) \
@@ -84,6 +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 74de3d3009..5e74881945 100644
--- a/refs.c
+++ b/refs.c
@@ -1758,7 +1758,7 @@ 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 d6fc3bd67c..69c00073eb 100644
--- a/refs/files-backend.c
+++ b/refs/files-backend.c
@@ -560,7 +560,7 @@ static int read_ref_internal(struct ref_store *ref_store, const char *refname,
 	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)
@@ -597,7 +597,7 @@ 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)) {
@@ -619,6 +619,10 @@ int parse_loose_ref_contents(const struct git_hash_algo *algop,
 		*failure_errno = EINVAL;
 		return -1;
 	}
+
+	if (trailing)
+		*trailing = p;
+
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -3430,6 +3434,65 @@ typedef int (*files_fsck_refs_fn)(struct ref_store *ref_store,
 				  const char *refs_check_dir,
 				  struct dir_iterator *iter);
 
+static int files_fsck_refs_content(struct ref_store *ref_store,
+				   struct fsck_options *o,
+				   const char *refs_check_dir,
+				   struct dir_iterator *iter)
+{
+	struct strbuf ref_content = STRBUF_INIT;
+	struct strbuf referent = STRBUF_INIT;
+	struct strbuf refname = STRBUF_INIT;
+	struct fsck_ref_report report = {0};
+	const char *trailing = NULL;
+	unsigned int type = 0;
+	int failure_errno = 0;
+	struct object_id oid;
+	int ret = 0;
+
+	strbuf_addf(&refname, "%s/%s", refs_check_dir, iter->relative_path);
+	report.path = refname.buf;
+
+	if (S_ISREG(iter->st.st_mode)) {
+		if (strbuf_read_file(&ref_content, iter->path.buf, 0) < 0) {
+			ret = error_errno(_("%s/%s: unable to read the ref"),
+					  refs_check_dir, iter->relative_path);
+			goto cleanup;
+		}
+
+		if (parse_loose_ref_contents(ref_store->repo->hash_algo,
+					     ref_content.buf, &oid, &referent,
+					     &type, &trailing, &failure_errno)) {
+			ret = fsck_report_ref(o, &report,
+					      FSCK_MSG_BAD_REF_CONTENT,
+					      "invalid ref content");
+			goto cleanup;
+		}
+
+		if (!(type & REF_ISSYMREF)) {
+			if (*trailing == '\0') {
+				ret = fsck_report_ref(o, &report,
+						      FSCK_MSG_REF_MISSING_NEWLINE,
+						      "missing newline");
+				goto cleanup;
+			}
+
+			if (*trailing != '\n' || (*(trailing + 1) != '\0')) {
+				ret = fsck_report_ref(o, &report,
+						      FSCK_MSG_TRAILING_REF_CONTENT,
+						      "trailing garbage in ref");
+				goto cleanup;
+			}
+		}
+		goto cleanup;
+	}
+
+cleanup:
+	strbuf_release(&refname);
+	strbuf_release(&ref_content);
+	strbuf_release(&referent);
+	return ret;
+}
+
 static int files_fsck_refs_name(struct ref_store *ref_store UNUSED,
 				struct fsck_options *o,
 				const char *refs_check_dir,
@@ -3512,6 +3575,7 @@ static int files_fsck_refs(struct ref_store *ref_store,
 {
 	files_fsck_refs_fn fsck_refs_fn[]= {
 		files_fsck_refs_name,
+		files_fsck_refs_content,
 		NULL,
 	};
 
diff --git a/refs/refs-internal.h b/refs/refs-internal.h
index 2313c830d8..73b05f971b 100644
--- a/refs/refs-internal.h
+++ b/refs/refs-internal.h
@@ -715,7 +715,7 @@ 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 71a4d1a5ae..7c1910d784 100755
--- a/t/t0602-reffiles-fsck.sh
+++ b/t/t0602-reffiles-fsck.sh
@@ -89,4 +89,91 @@ test_expect_success 'ref name check should be adapted into fsck messages' '
 	test_must_be_empty err
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'regular ref content should be checked' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
+	git init repo &&
+	branch_dir_prefix=.git/refs/heads &&
+	tag_dir_prefix=.git/refs/tags &&
+	cd repo &&
+	git commit --allow-empty -m initial &&
+	git checkout -b branch-1 &&
+	git tag tag-1 &&
+	git commit --allow-empty -m second &&
+	git checkout -b branch-2 &&
+	git tag tag-2 &&
+	git checkout -b a/b/tag-2 &&
+
+	printf "%s" "$(git rev-parse branch-1)" > $branch_dir_prefix/branch-1-no-newline &&
+	git refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	warning: refs/heads/branch-1-no-newline: refMissingNewline: missing newline
+	EOF
+	rm $branch_dir_prefix/branch-1-no-newline &&
+	test_cmp expect err &&
+
+	printf "%s garbage" "$(git rev-parse branch-1)" > $branch_dir_prefix/branch-1-garbage &&
+	git refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	warning: refs/heads/branch-1-garbage: trailingRefContent: trailing garbage in ref
+	EOF
+	rm $branch_dir_prefix/branch-1-garbage &&
+	test_cmp expect err &&
+
+	printf "%s\n\n\n" "$(git rev-parse tag-1)" > $tag_dir_prefix/tag-1-garbage &&
+	git refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	warning: refs/tags/tag-1-garbage: trailingRefContent: trailing garbage in ref
+	EOF
+	rm $tag_dir_prefix/tag-1-garbage &&
+	test_cmp expect err &&
+
+	printf "%s\n\n\n  garbage" "$(git rev-parse tag-1)" > $tag_dir_prefix/tag-1-garbage &&
+	git refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	warning: refs/tags/tag-1-garbage: trailingRefContent: trailing garbage in ref
+	EOF
+	rm $tag_dir_prefix/tag-1-garbage &&
+	test_cmp expect err &&
+
+	printf "%s    garbage\n\na" "$(git rev-parse tag-2)" > $tag_dir_prefix/tag-2-garbage &&
+	git refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	warning: refs/tags/tag-2-garbage: trailingRefContent: trailing garbage in ref
+	EOF
+	rm $tag_dir_prefix/tag-2-garbage &&
+	test_cmp expect err &&
+
+	printf "%s garbage" "$(git rev-parse tag-1)" > $tag_dir_prefix/tag-1-garbage &&
+	test_must_fail git -c fsck.trailingRefContent=error refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	error: refs/tags/tag-1-garbage: trailingRefContent: trailing garbage in ref
+	EOF
+	rm $tag_dir_prefix/tag-1-garbage &&
+	test_cmp expect err &&
+
+	printf "%sx" "$(git rev-parse tag-1)" > $tag_dir_prefix/tag-1-bad &&
+	test_must_fail git refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	error: refs/tags/tag-1-bad: badRefContent: invalid ref content
+	EOF
+	rm $tag_dir_prefix/tag-1-bad &&
+	test_cmp expect err &&
+
+	printf "xfsazqfxcadas" > $tag_dir_prefix/tag-2-bad &&
+	test_must_fail git refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	error: refs/tags/tag-2-bad: badRefContent: invalid ref content
+	EOF
+	rm $tag_dir_prefix/tag-2-bad &&
+	test_cmp expect err &&
+
+	printf "xfsazqfxcadas" > $branch_dir_prefix/a/b/branch-2-bad &&
+	test_must_fail git refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	error: refs/heads/a/b/branch-2-bad: badRefContent: invalid ref content
+	EOF
+	rm $branch_dir_prefix/a/b/branch-2-bad &&
+	test_cmp expect err
+'
+
 test_done
