diff --git a/Documentation/git.txt b/Documentation/git.txt
index 4749d1b4df..b12e22d597 100644
--- a/Documentation/git.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git.txt
@@ -1027,6 +1027,17 @@ GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS::
 	variable when it is invoked as the top level command by the
 	end user, to be recorded in the body of the reflog.
 
+`GIT_REF_PARANOIA`::
+	If set to `1`, include broken or badly named refs when iterating
+	over lists of refs. In a normal, non-corrupted repository, this
+	does nothing. However, enabling it may help git to detect and
+	abort some operations in the presence of broken refs. Git sets
+	this variable automatically when performing destructive
+	operations like linkgit:git-prune[1]. You should not need to set
+	it yourself unless you want to be paranoid about making sure
+	an operation has touched every ref (e.g., because you are
+	cloning a repository to make a backup).
+
 
 Discussion[[Discussion]]
 ------------------------
diff --git a/builtin/prune.c b/builtin/prune.c
index 04d3b12ae4..17094ad954 100644
--- a/builtin/prune.c
+++ b/builtin/prune.c
@@ -115,6 +115,7 @@ int cmd_prune(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	expire = ULONG_MAX;
 	save_commit_buffer = 0;
 	check_replace_refs = 0;
+	ref_paranoia = 1;
 	init_revisions(&revs, prefix);
 
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options, prune_usage, 0);
diff --git a/builtin/repack.c b/builtin/repack.c
index 28fbc7099a..f2edeb0f4c 100644
--- a/builtin/repack.c
+++ b/builtin/repack.c
@@ -228,13 +228,17 @@ int cmd_repack(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		get_non_kept_pack_filenames(&existing_packs);
 
 		if (existing_packs.nr && delete_redundant) {
-			if (unpack_unreachable)
+			if (unpack_unreachable) {
 				argv_array_pushf(&cmd.args,
 						"--unpack-unreachable=%s",
 						unpack_unreachable);
-			else if (pack_everything & LOOSEN_UNREACHABLE)
+				argv_array_push(&cmd.env_array, "GIT_REF_PARANOIA=1");
+			} else if (pack_everything & LOOSEN_UNREACHABLE) {
 				argv_array_push(&cmd.args,
 						"--unpack-unreachable");
+			} else {
+				argv_array_push(&cmd.env_array, "GIT_REF_PARANOIA=1");
+			}
 		}
 	} else {
 		argv_array_push(&cmd.args, "--unpacked");
diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index 761c5704b2..162ea6f24a 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -613,6 +613,14 @@ extern int precomposed_unicode;
 extern int protect_hfs;
 extern int protect_ntfs;
 
+/*
+ * Include broken refs in all ref iterations, which will
+ * generally choke dangerous operations rather than letting
+ * them silently proceed without taking the broken ref into
+ * account.
+ */
+extern int ref_paranoia;
+
 /*
  * The character that begins a commented line in user-editable file
  * that is subject to stripspace.
diff --git a/environment.c b/environment.c
index 1ade5c9684..a40044c3bf 100644
--- a/environment.c
+++ b/environment.c
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ int is_bare_repository_cfg = -1; /* unspecified */
 int log_all_ref_updates = -1; /* unspecified */
 int warn_ambiguous_refs = 1;
 int warn_on_object_refname_ambiguity = 1;
+int ref_paranoia = -1;
 int repository_format_version;
 const char *git_commit_encoding;
 const char *git_log_output_encoding;
diff --git a/refs.c b/refs.c
index e23542b386..47e4e5380a 100644
--- a/refs.c
+++ b/refs.c
@@ -1934,6 +1934,11 @@ static int do_for_each_ref(struct ref_cache *refs, const char *base,
 	data.fn = fn;
 	data.cb_data = cb_data;
 
+	if (ref_paranoia < 0)
+		ref_paranoia = git_env_bool("GIT_REF_PARANOIA", 0);
+	if (ref_paranoia)
+		data.flags |= DO_FOR_EACH_INCLUDE_BROKEN;
+
 	return do_for_each_entry(refs, base, do_one_ref, &data);
 }
 
@@ -2616,68 +2621,10 @@ int pack_refs(unsigned int flags)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-/*
- * If entry is no longer needed in packed-refs, add it to the string
- * list pointed to by cb_data.  Reasons for deleting entries:
- *
- * - Entry is broken.
- * - Entry is overridden by a loose ref.
- * - Entry does not point at a valid object.
- *
- * In the first and third cases, also emit an error message because these
- * are indications of repository corruption.
- */
-static int curate_packed_ref_fn(struct ref_entry *entry, void *cb_data)
-{
-	struct string_list *refs_to_delete = cb_data;
-
-	if (entry->flag & REF_ISBROKEN) {
-		/* This shouldn't happen to packed refs. */
-		error("%s is broken!", entry->name);
-		string_list_append(refs_to_delete, entry->name);
-		return 0;
-	}
-	if (!has_sha1_file(entry->u.value.sha1)) {
-		unsigned char sha1[20];
-		int flags;
-
-		if (read_ref_full(entry->name, 0, sha1, &flags))
-			/* We should at least have found the packed ref. */
-			die("Internal error");
-		if ((flags & REF_ISSYMREF) || !(flags & REF_ISPACKED)) {
-			/*
-			 * This packed reference is overridden by a
-			 * loose reference, so it is OK that its value
-			 * is no longer valid; for example, it might
-			 * refer to an object that has been garbage
-			 * collected.  For this purpose we don't even
-			 * care whether the loose reference itself is
-			 * invalid, broken, symbolic, etc.  Silently
-			 * remove the packed reference.
-			 */
-			string_list_append(refs_to_delete, entry->name);
-			return 0;
-		}
-		/*
-		 * There is no overriding loose reference, so the fact
-		 * that this reference doesn't refer to a valid object
-		 * indicates some kind of repository corruption.
-		 * Report the problem, then omit the reference from
-		 * the output.
-		 */
-		error("%s does not point to a valid object!", entry->name);
-		string_list_append(refs_to_delete, entry->name);
-		return 0;
-	}
-
-	return 0;
-}
-
 int repack_without_refs(struct string_list *refnames, struct strbuf *err)
 {
 	struct ref_dir *packed;
-	struct string_list refs_to_delete = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
-	struct string_list_item *refname, *ref_to_delete;
+	struct string_list_item *refname;
 	int ret, needs_repacking = 0, removed = 0;
 
 	assert(err);
@@ -2713,13 +2660,6 @@ int repack_without_refs(struct string_list *refnames, struct strbuf *err)
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-	/* Remove any other accumulated cruft */
-	do_for_each_entry_in_dir(packed, 0, curate_packed_ref_fn, &refs_to_delete);
-	for_each_string_list_item(ref_to_delete, &refs_to_delete) {
-		if (remove_entry(packed, ref_to_delete->string) == -1)
-			die("internal error");
-	}
-
 	/* Write what remains */
 	ret = commit_packed_refs();
 	if (ret)
diff --git a/t/t5312-prune-corruption.sh b/t/t5312-prune-corruption.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..8e98b44083
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/t5312-prune-corruption.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+test_description='
+Test pruning of repositories with minor corruptions. The goal
+here is that we should always be erring on the side of safety. So
+if we see, for example, a ref with a bogus name, it is OK either to
+bail out or to proceed using it as a reachable tip, but it is _not_
+OK to proceed as if it did not exist. Otherwise we might silently
+delete objects that cannot be recovered.
+'
+. ./test-lib.sh
+
+test_expect_success 'disable reflogs' '
+	git config core.logallrefupdates false &&
+	rm -rf .git/logs
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'create history reachable only from a bogus-named ref' '
+	test_tick && git commit --allow-empty -m master &&
+	base=$(git rev-parse HEAD) &&
+	test_tick && git commit --allow-empty -m bogus &&
+	bogus=$(git rev-parse HEAD) &&
+	git cat-file commit $bogus >saved &&
+	echo $bogus >.git/refs/heads/bogus..name &&
+	git reset --hard HEAD^
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pruning does not drop bogus object' '
+	test_when_finished "git hash-object -w -t commit saved" &&
+	test_might_fail git prune --expire=now &&
+	verbose git cat-file -e $bogus
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'put bogus object into pack' '
+	git tag reachable $bogus &&
+	git repack -ad &&
+	git tag -d reachable &&
+	verbose git cat-file -e $bogus
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'destructive repack keeps packed object' '
+	test_might_fail git repack -Ad --unpack-unreachable=now &&
+	verbose git cat-file -e $bogus &&
+	test_might_fail git repack -ad &&
+	verbose git cat-file -e $bogus
+'
+
+# subsequent tests will have different corruptions
+test_expect_success 'clean up bogus ref' '
+	rm .git/refs/heads/bogus..name
+'
+
+# We create two new objects here, "one" and "two". Our
+# master branch points to "two", which is deleted,
+# corrupting the repository. But we'd like to make sure
+# that the otherwise unreachable "one" is not pruned
+# (since it is the user's best bet for recovering
+# from the corruption).
+#
+# Note that we also point HEAD somewhere besides "two",
+# as we want to make sure we test the case where we
+# pick up the reference to "two" by iterating the refs,
+# not by resolving HEAD.
+test_expect_success 'create history with missing tip commit' '
+	test_tick && git commit --allow-empty -m one &&
+	recoverable=$(git rev-parse HEAD) &&
+	git cat-file commit $recoverable >saved &&
+	test_tick && git commit --allow-empty -m two &&
+	missing=$(git rev-parse HEAD) &&
+	git checkout --detach $base &&
+	rm .git/objects/$(echo $missing | sed "s,..,&/,") &&
+	test_must_fail git cat-file -e $missing
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pruning with a corrupted tip does not drop history' '
+	test_when_finished "git hash-object -w -t commit saved" &&
+	test_might_fail git prune --expire=now &&
+	verbose git cat-file -e $recoverable
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pack-refs does not silently delete broken loose ref' '
+	git pack-refs --all --prune &&
+	echo $missing >expect &&
+	git rev-parse refs/heads/master >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+# we do not want to count on running pack-refs to
+# actually pack it, as it is perfectly reasonable to
+# skip processing a broken ref
+test_expect_success 'create packed-refs file with broken ref' '
+	rm -f .git/refs/heads/master &&
+	cat >.git/packed-refs <<-EOF &&
+	$missing refs/heads/master
+	$recoverable refs/heads/other
+	EOF
+	echo $missing >expect &&
+	git rev-parse refs/heads/master >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pack-refs does not silently delete broken packed ref' '
+	git pack-refs --all --prune &&
+	git rev-parse refs/heads/master >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pack-refs does not drop broken refs during deletion' '
+	git update-ref -d refs/heads/other &&
+	git rev-parse refs/heads/master >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_done