diff --git a/Documentation/fsck-msgids.txt b/Documentation/fsck-msgids.txt
index 22c385ea22..8827137ef0 100644
--- a/Documentation/fsck-msgids.txt
+++ b/Documentation/fsck-msgids.txt
@@ -173,6 +173,14 @@
 `nullSha1`::
 	(WARN) Tree contains entries pointing to a null sha1.
 
+`refMissingNewline`::
+	(INFO) A ref does not end with newline. This will be
+	considered an error in the future.
+
+`trailingRefContent`::
+	(INFO) A ref has trailing content. This will be
+	considered an error in the future.
+
 `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 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 b1ed2e5c04..df4ce270ae 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;
 }
 
@@ -3439,6 +3443,7 @@ static int files_fsck_refs_content(struct ref_store *ref_store,
 	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;
@@ -3458,13 +3463,29 @@ 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)) {
 		ret = fsck_report_ref(o, &report,
 				      FSCK_MSG_BAD_REF_CONTENT,
 				      "invalid ref content");
 		goto cleanup;
 	}
 
+	if (!(type & REF_ISSYMREF)) {
+		if (!*trailing) {
+			ret = fsck_report_ref(o, &report,
+					      FSCK_MSG_REF_MISSING_NEWLINE,
+					      "missing newline");
+			goto cleanup;
+		}
+
+		if (*trailing != '\n' || *(trailing + 1)) {
+			ret = fsck_report_ref(o, &report,
+					      FSCK_MSG_TRAILING_REF_CONTENT,
+					      "trailing garbage in ref");
+			goto cleanup;
+		}
+	}
+
 cleanup:
 	strbuf_release(&refname);
 	strbuf_release(&ref_content);
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 a1205b3a3b..a06ad044f2 100755
--- a/t/t0602-reffiles-fsck.sh
+++ b/t/t0602-reffiles-fsck.sh
@@ -101,6 +101,54 @@ test_expect_success 'regular ref content should be checked (individual)' '
 	git refs verify 2>err &&
 	test_must_be_empty err &&
 
+	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: missing newline
+	EOF
+	rm $branch_dir_prefix/branch-no-newline &&
+	test_cmp expect err &&
+
+	printf "%s garbage" "$(git rev-parse main)" >$branch_dir_prefix/branch-garbage &&
+	git refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	warning: refs/heads/branch-garbage: trailingRefContent: trailing garbage in ref
+	EOF
+	rm $branch_dir_prefix/branch-garbage &&
+	test_cmp expect err &&
+
+	printf "%s\n\n\n" "$(git rev-parse main)" >$tag_dir_prefix/tag-garbage-1 &&
+	git refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	warning: refs/tags/tag-garbage-1: trailingRefContent: trailing garbage in ref
+	EOF
+	rm $tag_dir_prefix/tag-garbage-1 &&
+	test_cmp expect err &&
+
+	printf "%s\n\n\n  garbage" "$(git rev-parse main)" >$tag_dir_prefix/tag-garbage-2 &&
+	git refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	warning: refs/tags/tag-garbage-2: trailingRefContent: trailing garbage in ref
+	EOF
+	rm $tag_dir_prefix/tag-garbage-2 &&
+	test_cmp expect err &&
+
+	printf "%s    garbage\n\na" "$(git rev-parse main)" >$tag_dir_prefix/tag-garbage-3 &&
+	git refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	warning: refs/tags/tag-garbage-3: trailingRefContent: trailing garbage in ref
+	EOF
+	rm $tag_dir_prefix/tag-garbage-3 &&
+	test_cmp expect err &&
+
+	printf "%s garbage" "$(git rev-parse main)" >$tag_dir_prefix/tag-garbage-4 &&
+	test_must_fail git -c fsck.trailingRefContent=error refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	error: refs/tags/tag-garbage-4: trailingRefContent: trailing garbage in ref
+	EOF
+	rm $tag_dir_prefix/tag-garbage-4 &&
+	test_cmp expect err &&
+
 	printf "%sx" "$(git rev-parse main)" >$tag_dir_prefix/tag-bad-1 &&
 	test_must_fail git refs verify 2>err &&
 	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
@@ -135,6 +183,12 @@ test_expect_success 'regular ref content should be checked (aggregate)' '
 	test_commit default &&
 	mkdir -p "$branch_dir_prefix/a/b" &&
 
+	printf "%s" "$(git rev-parse main)" >$branch_dir_prefix/branch-no-newline &&
+	printf "%s garbage" "$(git rev-parse main)" >$branch_dir_prefix/branch-garbage &&
+	printf "%s\n\n\n" "$(git rev-parse main)" >$tag_dir_prefix/tag-garbage-1 &&
+	printf "%s\n\n\n  garbage" "$(git rev-parse main)" >$tag_dir_prefix/tag-garbage-2 &&
+	printf "%s    garbage\n\na" "$(git rev-parse main)" >$tag_dir_prefix/tag-garbage-3 &&
+	printf "%s garbage" "$(git rev-parse main)" >$tag_dir_prefix/tag-garbage-4 &&
 	printf "%sx" "$(git rev-parse main)" >$tag_dir_prefix/tag-bad-1 &&
 	printf "xfsazqfxcadas" >$tag_dir_prefix/tag-bad-2 &&
 	printf "xfsazqfxcadas" >$branch_dir_prefix/a/b/branch-bad &&
@@ -144,6 +198,12 @@ test_expect_success 'regular ref content should be checked (aggregate)' '
 	error: refs/heads/a/b/branch-bad: badRefContent: invalid ref content
 	error: refs/tags/tag-bad-1: badRefContent: invalid ref content
 	error: refs/tags/tag-bad-2: badRefContent: invalid ref content
+	warning: refs/heads/branch-garbage: trailingRefContent: trailing garbage in ref
+	warning: refs/heads/branch-no-newline: refMissingNewline: missing newline
+	warning: refs/tags/tag-garbage-1: trailingRefContent: trailing garbage in ref
+	warning: refs/tags/tag-garbage-2: trailingRefContent: trailing garbage in ref
+	warning: refs/tags/tag-garbage-3: trailingRefContent: trailing garbage in ref
+	warning: refs/tags/tag-garbage-4: trailingRefContent: trailing garbage in ref
 	EOF
 	sort err >sorted_err &&
 	test_cmp expect sorted_err
