diff --git a/refs.c b/refs.c
index d7cc0a23a3b..086b1341d2a 100644
--- a/refs.c
+++ b/refs.c
@@ -1078,9 +1078,10 @@ int ref_transaction_update(struct ref_transaction *transaction,
 {
 	assert(err);
 
-	if ((new_oid && !is_null_oid(new_oid)) ?
-	    check_refname_format(refname, REFNAME_ALLOW_ONELEVEL) :
-	    !refname_is_safe(refname)) {
+	if (!(flags & REF_SKIP_REFNAME_VERIFICATION) &&
+	    ((new_oid && !is_null_oid(new_oid)) ?
+		     check_refname_format(refname, REFNAME_ALLOW_ONELEVEL) :
+			   !refname_is_safe(refname))) {
 		strbuf_addf(err, _("refusing to update ref with bad name '%s'"),
 			    refname);
 		return -1;
diff --git a/refs.h b/refs.h
index 46e68fd4c2a..684f8b33d17 100644
--- a/refs.h
+++ b/refs.h
@@ -617,12 +617,18 @@ struct ref_transaction *ref_transaction_begin(struct strbuf *err);
  */
 #define REF_SKIP_OID_VERIFICATION (1 << 10)
 
+/*
+ * Skip verifying refname. This is useful for testing data corruption scenarios.
+ */
+#define REF_SKIP_REFNAME_VERIFICATION (1 << 11)
+
 /*
  * Bitmask of all of the flags that are allowed to be passed in to
  * ref_transaction_update() and friends:
  */
-#define REF_TRANSACTION_UPDATE_ALLOWED_FLAGS \
-	(REF_NO_DEREF | REF_FORCE_CREATE_REFLOG | REF_SKIP_OID_VERIFICATION)
+#define REF_TRANSACTION_UPDATE_ALLOWED_FLAGS                                  \
+	(REF_NO_DEREF | REF_FORCE_CREATE_REFLOG | REF_SKIP_OID_VERIFICATION | \
+	 REF_SKIP_REFNAME_VERIFICATION)
 
 /*
  * Add a reference update to transaction. `new_oid` is the value that
diff --git a/t/t1430-bad-ref-name.sh b/t/t1430-bad-ref-name.sh
index 4c77cf89a6c..56d0726944e 100755
--- a/t/t1430-bad-ref-name.sh
+++ b/t/t1430-bad-ref-name.sh
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ TEST_PASSES_SANITIZE_LEAK=true
 
 test_expect_success setup '
 	test_commit one &&
-	test_commit two
+	test_commit two &&
+	main_sha1=$(git rev-parse refs/heads/main)
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'fast-import: fail on invalid branch name ".badbranchname"' '
@@ -43,16 +44,16 @@ test_expect_success 'fast-import: fail on invalid branch name "bad[branch]name"'
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'git branch shows badly named ref as warning' '
-	cp .git/refs/heads/main .git/refs/heads/broken...ref &&
-	test_when_finished "rm -f .git/refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
+	test-tool ref-store main update-ref msg "refs/heads/broken...ref" $main_sha1 $ZERO_OID 2048 &&
+	test_when_finished "test-tool ref-store main delete-refs 1 msg refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
 	git branch >output 2>error &&
 	test_i18ngrep -e "ignoring ref with broken name refs/heads/broken\.\.\.ref" error &&
 	! grep -e "broken\.\.\.ref" output
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'branch -d can delete badly named ref' '
-	cp .git/refs/heads/main .git/refs/heads/broken...ref &&
-	test_when_finished "rm -f .git/refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
+	test-tool ref-store main update-ref msg "refs/heads/broken...ref" $main_sha1 $ZERO_OID 2048 &&
+	test_when_finished "test-tool ref-store main delete-refs 1 msg refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
 	git branch -d broken...ref &&
 	git branch >output 2>error &&
 	! grep -e "broken\.\.\.ref" error &&
@@ -60,8 +61,8 @@ test_expect_success 'branch -d can delete badly named ref' '
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'branch -D can delete badly named ref' '
-	cp .git/refs/heads/main .git/refs/heads/broken...ref &&
-	test_when_finished "rm -f .git/refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
+	test-tool ref-store main update-ref msg "refs/heads/broken...ref" $main_sha1 $ZERO_OID 2048 &&
+	test_when_finished "test-tool ref-store main delete-refs 1 msg refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
 	git branch -D broken...ref &&
 	git branch >output 2>error &&
 	! grep -e "broken\.\.\.ref" error &&
@@ -90,7 +91,7 @@ test_expect_success 'branch -D cannot delete absolute path' '
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'git branch cannot create a badly named ref' '
-	test_when_finished "rm -f .git/refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
+	test_when_finished "test-tool ref-store main delete-refs 1 msg refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
 	test_must_fail git branch broken...ref &&
 	git branch >output 2>error &&
 	! grep -e "broken\.\.\.ref" error &&
@@ -98,7 +99,7 @@ test_expect_success 'git branch cannot create a badly named ref' '
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'branch -m cannot rename to a bad ref name' '
-	test_when_finished "rm -f .git/refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
+	test_when_finished "test-tool ref-store main delete-refs 1 msg refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
 	test_might_fail git branch -D goodref &&
 	git branch goodref &&
 	test_must_fail git branch -m goodref broken...ref &&
@@ -109,8 +110,9 @@ test_expect_success 'branch -m cannot rename to a bad ref name' '
 '
 
 test_expect_failure 'branch -m can rename from a bad ref name' '
-	cp .git/refs/heads/main .git/refs/heads/broken...ref &&
-	test_when_finished "rm -f .git/refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
+	test-tool ref-store main update-ref msg "refs/heads/broken...ref" $main_sha1 $ZERO_OID 2048 &&
+
+	test_when_finished "test-tool ref-store main delete-refs 1 msg refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
 	git branch -m broken...ref renamed &&
 	test_cmp_rev main renamed &&
 	git branch >output 2>error &&
@@ -119,7 +121,7 @@ test_expect_failure 'branch -m can rename from a bad ref name' '
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'push cannot create a badly named ref' '
-	test_when_finished "rm -f .git/refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
+	test_when_finished "test-tool ref-store main delete-refs 1 msg refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
 	test_must_fail git push "file://$(pwd)" HEAD:refs/heads/broken...ref &&
 	git branch >output 2>error &&
 	! grep -e "broken\.\.\.ref" error &&
@@ -139,7 +141,7 @@ test_expect_failure 'push --mirror can delete badly named ref' '
 		cd dest &&
 		test_commit two &&
 		git checkout --detach &&
-		cp .git/refs/heads/main .git/refs/heads/broken...ref
+		test-tool ref-store main update-ref msg "refs/heads/broken...ref" $main_sha1 $ZERO_OID 2048
 	) &&
 	git -C src push --mirror "file://$top/dest" &&
 	git -C dest branch >output 2>error &&
@@ -148,9 +150,9 @@ test_expect_failure 'push --mirror can delete badly named ref' '
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'rev-parse skips symref pointing to broken name' '
-	test_when_finished "rm -f .git/refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
+	test_when_finished "test-tool ref-store main delete-refs 1 msg refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
 	git branch shadow one &&
-	cp .git/refs/heads/main .git/refs/heads/broken...ref &&
+	test-tool ref-store main update-ref msg "refs/heads/broken...ref" $main_sha1 $ZERO_OID 2048 &&
 	printf "ref: refs/heads/broken...ref\n" >.git/refs/tags/shadow &&
 	test_when_finished "rm -f .git/refs/tags/shadow" &&
 	git rev-parse --verify one >expect &&
@@ -160,8 +162,8 @@ test_expect_success 'rev-parse skips symref pointing to broken name' '
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'for-each-ref emits warnings for broken names' '
-	cp .git/refs/heads/main .git/refs/heads/broken...ref &&
-	test_when_finished "rm -f .git/refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
+	test-tool ref-store main update-ref msg "refs/heads/broken...ref" $main_sha1 $ZERO_OID 2048 &&
+	test_when_finished "test-tool ref-store main delete-refs 1 msg refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
 	printf "ref: refs/heads/broken...ref\n" >.git/refs/heads/badname &&
 	test_when_finished "rm -f .git/refs/heads/badname" &&
 	printf "ref: refs/heads/main\n" >.git/refs/heads/broken...symref &&
@@ -176,8 +178,8 @@ test_expect_success 'for-each-ref emits warnings for broken names' '
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'update-ref -d can delete broken name' '
-	cp .git/refs/heads/main .git/refs/heads/broken...ref &&
-	test_when_finished "rm -f .git/refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
+	test-tool ref-store main update-ref msg "refs/heads/broken...ref" $main_sha1 $ZERO_OID 2048 &&
+	test_when_finished "test-tool ref-store main delete-refs 1 msg refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
 	git update-ref -d refs/heads/broken...ref >output 2>error &&
 	test_must_be_empty output &&
 	test_must_be_empty error &&
@@ -187,8 +189,8 @@ test_expect_success 'update-ref -d can delete broken name' '
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'branch -d can delete broken name' '
-	cp .git/refs/heads/main .git/refs/heads/broken...ref &&
-	test_when_finished "rm -f .git/refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
+	test-tool ref-store main update-ref msg "refs/heads/broken...ref" $main_sha1 $ZERO_OID 2048 &&
+	test_when_finished "test-tool ref-store main delete-refs 1 msg refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
 	git branch -d broken...ref >output 2>error &&
 	test_i18ngrep "Deleted branch broken...ref (was broken)" output &&
 	test_must_be_empty error &&
@@ -198,8 +200,9 @@ test_expect_success 'branch -d can delete broken name' '
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'update-ref --no-deref -d can delete symref to broken name' '
-	cp .git/refs/heads/main .git/refs/heads/broken...ref &&
-	test_when_finished "rm -f .git/refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
+	test-tool ref-store main update-ref msg "refs/heads/broken...ref" $main_sha1 $ZERO_OID 2048 &&
+
+	test_when_finished "test-tool ref-store main delete-refs 1 msg refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
 	printf "ref: refs/heads/broken...ref\n" >.git/refs/heads/badname &&
 	test_when_finished "rm -f .git/refs/heads/badname" &&
 	git update-ref --no-deref -d refs/heads/badname >output 2>error &&
@@ -209,8 +212,9 @@ test_expect_success 'update-ref --no-deref -d can delete symref to broken name'
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'branch -d can delete symref to broken name' '
-	cp .git/refs/heads/main .git/refs/heads/broken...ref &&
-	test_when_finished "rm -f .git/refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
+	test-tool ref-store main update-ref msg "refs/heads/broken...ref" $main_sha1 $ZERO_OID 2048 &&
+
+	test_when_finished "test-tool ref-store main delete-refs 1 msg refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
 	printf "ref: refs/heads/broken...ref\n" >.git/refs/heads/badname &&
 	test_when_finished "rm -f .git/refs/heads/badname" &&
 	git branch -d badname >output 2>error &&
@@ -238,8 +242,9 @@ test_expect_success 'branch -d can delete dangling symref to broken name' '
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'update-ref -d can delete broken name through symref' '
-	cp .git/refs/heads/main .git/refs/heads/broken...ref &&
-	test_when_finished "rm -f .git/refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
+	test-tool ref-store main update-ref msg "refs/heads/broken...ref" $main_sha1 $ZERO_OID 2048 &&
+
+	test_when_finished "test-tool ref-store main delete-refs 1 msg refs/heads/broken...ref" &&
 	printf "ref: refs/heads/broken...ref\n" >.git/refs/heads/badname &&
 	test_when_finished "rm -f .git/refs/heads/badname" &&
 	git update-ref -d refs/heads/badname >output 2>error &&
