diff --git a/Documentation/fsck-msgids.txt b/Documentation/fsck-msgids.txt
index 223974057d..ffe9d6a2f6 100644
--- a/Documentation/fsck-msgids.txt
+++ b/Documentation/fsck-msgids.txt
@@ -184,6 +184,12 @@
 `nullSha1`::
 	(WARN) Tree contains entries pointing to a null sha1.
 
+`symlinkRef`::
+	(INFO) A symbolic link is used as a symref.  Report to the
+	git@vger.kernel.org mailing list if you see this error, as we
+	are assessing the feasibility of dropping the support to drop
+	creating symblinks as symrefs.
+
 `treeNotSorted`::
 	(ERROR) A tree is not properly sorted.
 
diff --git a/fsck.h b/fsck.h
index 5ecee0fda5..f1da5c8a77 100644
--- a/fsck.h
+++ b/fsck.h
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ enum fsck_msg_type {
 	FUNC(MAILMAP_SYMLINK, INFO) \
 	FUNC(BAD_TAG_NAME, INFO) \
 	FUNC(MISSING_TAGGER_ENTRY, INFO) \
+	FUNC(SYMLINK_REF, INFO) \
 	FUNC(UNOFFICIAL_FORMATTED_REF, INFO) \
 	/* ignored (elevated when requested) */ \
 	FUNC(EXTRA_HEADER_ENTRY, IGNORE)
diff --git a/refs/files-backend.c b/refs/files-backend.c
index 1182bca108..5a5327a146 100644
--- a/refs/files-backend.c
+++ b/refs/files-backend.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #define USE_THE_REPOSITORY_VARIABLE
 
 #include "../git-compat-util.h"
+#include "../abspath.h"
 #include "../config.h"
 #include "../copy.h"
 #include "../environment.h"
@@ -3510,15 +3511,18 @@ typedef int (*files_fsck_refs_fn)(struct ref_store *ref_store,
 
 static int files_fsck_symref_target(struct fsck_options *o,
 				    struct fsck_ref_report *report,
-				    struct strbuf *referent)
+				    struct strbuf *referent,
+				    unsigned int symbolic_link)
 {
 	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 (!symbolic_link) {
+		orig_len = referent->len;
+		orig_last_byte = referent->buf[orig_len - 1];
+		strbuf_rtrim(referent);
+	}
 
 	if (!starts_with(referent->buf, "refs/") &&
 	    !starts_with(referent->buf, "worktrees/")) {
@@ -3535,6 +3539,9 @@ static int files_fsck_symref_target(struct fsck_options *o,
 		goto out;
 	}
 
+	if (symbolic_link)
+		goto out;
+
 
 	if (referent->len == orig_len ||
 	    (referent->len < orig_len && orig_last_byte != '\n')) {
@@ -3559,6 +3566,7 @@ static int files_fsck_refs_content(struct ref_store *ref_store,
 				   struct dir_iterator *iter)
 {
 	struct strbuf ref_content = STRBUF_INIT;
+	struct strbuf abs_gitdir = STRBUF_INIT;
 	struct strbuf referent = STRBUF_INIT;
 	struct strbuf refname = STRBUF_INIT;
 	struct fsck_ref_report report = { 0 };
@@ -3571,8 +3579,30 @@ static int files_fsck_refs_content(struct ref_store *ref_store,
 	strbuf_addf(&refname, "%s/%s", refs_check_dir, iter->relative_path);
 	report.path = refname.buf;
 
-	if (S_ISLNK(iter->st.st_mode))
+	if (S_ISLNK(iter->st.st_mode)) {
+		const char* relative_referent_path = NULL;
+
+		ret = fsck_report_ref(o, &report,
+				      FSCK_MSG_SYMLINK_REF,
+				      "use deprecated symbolic link for symref");
+
+		strbuf_add_absolute_path(&abs_gitdir, ref_store->gitdir);
+		strbuf_normalize_path(&abs_gitdir);
+		if (!is_dir_sep(abs_gitdir.buf[abs_gitdir.len - 1]))
+			strbuf_addch(&abs_gitdir, '/');
+
+		strbuf_add_real_path(&ref_content, iter->path.buf);
+		skip_prefix(ref_content.buf, abs_gitdir.buf,
+			    &relative_referent_path);
+
+		if (relative_referent_path)
+			strbuf_addstr(&referent, relative_referent_path);
+		else
+			strbuf_addbuf(&referent, &ref_content);
+
+		ret += files_fsck_symref_target(o, &report, &referent, 1);
 		goto cleanup;
+	}
 
 	if (strbuf_read_file(&ref_content, iter->path.buf, 0) < 0) {
 		ret = fsck_report_ref(o, &report,
@@ -3605,7 +3635,7 @@ static int files_fsck_refs_content(struct ref_store *ref_store,
 			goto cleanup;
 		}
 	} else {
-		ret = files_fsck_symref_target(o, &report, &referent);
+		ret = files_fsck_symref_target(o, &report, &referent, 0);
 		goto cleanup;
 	}
 
@@ -3613,6 +3643,7 @@ static int files_fsck_refs_content(struct ref_store *ref_store,
 	strbuf_release(&refname);
 	strbuf_release(&ref_content);
 	strbuf_release(&referent);
+	strbuf_release(&abs_gitdir);
 	return ret;
 }
 
diff --git a/t/t0602-reffiles-fsck.sh b/t/t0602-reffiles-fsck.sh
index 97bbcd3f13..be4c064b3c 100755
--- a/t/t0602-reffiles-fsck.sh
+++ b/t/t0602-reffiles-fsck.sh
@@ -486,4 +486,49 @@ test_expect_success 'all textual symref checks should work with worktrees' '
 	rm $worktree2_refdir_prefix/branch-garbage
 '
 
+test_expect_success SYMLINKS 'symlink symref content should be checked (individual)' '
+	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" &&
+
+	ln -sf ./main $branch_dir_prefix/branch-symbolic-good &&
+	git refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	warning: refs/heads/branch-symbolic-good: symlinkRef: use deprecated symbolic link for symref
+	EOF
+	rm $branch_dir_prefix/branch-symbolic-good &&
+	test_cmp expect err &&
+
+	ln -sf ../../logs/branch-escape $branch_dir_prefix/branch-symbolic &&
+	git refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	warning: refs/heads/branch-symbolic: symlinkRef: use deprecated symbolic link for symref
+	warning: refs/heads/branch-symbolic: escapeReferent: referent '\''logs/branch-escape'\'' is outside of refs/ or worktrees/
+	EOF
+	rm $branch_dir_prefix/branch-symbolic &&
+	test_cmp expect err &&
+
+	ln -sf ./"branch   space" $branch_dir_prefix/branch-symbolic-bad &&
+	test_must_fail git refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	warning: refs/heads/branch-symbolic-bad: symlinkRef: use deprecated symbolic link for symref
+	error: refs/heads/branch-symbolic-bad: badReferent: points to invalid refname '\''refs/heads/branch   space'\''
+	EOF
+	rm $branch_dir_prefix/branch-symbolic-bad &&
+	test_cmp expect err &&
+
+	ln -sf ./".tag" $tag_dir_prefix/tag-symbolic-1 &&
+	test_must_fail git refs verify 2>err &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	warning: refs/tags/tag-symbolic-1: symlinkRef: use deprecated symbolic link for symref
+	error: refs/tags/tag-symbolic-1: badReferent: points to invalid refname '\''refs/tags/.tag'\''
+	EOF
+	rm $tag_dir_prefix/tag-symbolic-1 &&
+	test_cmp expect err
+'
+
 test_done
