diff --git a/builtin/show-ref.c b/builtin/show-ref.c
index 6d4e669002..013d241abc 100644
--- a/builtin/show-ref.c
+++ b/builtin/show-ref.c
@@ -19,19 +19,34 @@ static const char *exclude_existing_arg;
 
 static void show_one(const char *refname, const struct object_id *oid)
 {
-	const char *hex = find_unique_abbrev(oid->hash, abbrev);
+	const char *hex;
+	struct object_id peeled;
+
+	if (!has_sha1_file(oid->hash))
+		die("git show-ref: bad ref %s (%s)", refname,
+		    oid_to_hex(oid));
+
+	if (quiet)
+		return;
+
+	hex = find_unique_abbrev(oid->hash, abbrev);
 	if (hash_only)
 		printf("%s\n", hex);
 	else
 		printf("%s %s\n", hex, refname);
+
+	if (!deref_tags)
+		return;
+
+	if (!peel_ref(refname, peeled.hash)) {
+		hex = find_unique_abbrev(peeled.hash, abbrev);
+		printf("%s %s^{}\n", hex, refname);
+	}
 }
 
 static int show_ref(const char *refname, const struct object_id *oid,
 		    int flag, void *cbdata)
 {
-	const char *hex;
-	struct object_id peeled;
-
 	if (show_head && !strcmp(refname, "HEAD"))
 		goto match;
 
@@ -54,9 +69,6 @@ static int show_ref(const char *refname, const struct object_id *oid,
 				continue;
 			if (len == reflen)
 				goto match;
-			/* "--verify" requires an exact match */
-			if (verify)
-				continue;
 			if (refname[reflen - len - 1] == '/')
 				goto match;
 		}
@@ -66,26 +78,8 @@ static int show_ref(const char *refname, const struct object_id *oid,
 match:
 	found_match++;
 
-	/* This changes the semantics slightly that even under quiet we
-	 * detect and return error if the repository is corrupt and
-	 * ref points at a nonexistent object.
-	 */
-	if (!has_sha1_file(oid->hash))
-		die("git show-ref: bad ref %s (%s)", refname,
-		    oid_to_hex(oid));
-
-	if (quiet)
-		return 0;
-
 	show_one(refname, oid);
 
-	if (!deref_tags)
-		return 0;
-
-	if (!peel_ref(refname, peeled.hash)) {
-		hex = find_unique_abbrev(peeled.hash, abbrev);
-		printf("%s %s^{}\n", hex, refname);
-	}
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -202,10 +196,9 @@ int cmd_show_ref(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		while (*pattern) {
 			struct object_id oid;
 
-			if (starts_with(*pattern, "refs/") &&
+			if ((starts_with(*pattern, "refs/") || !strcmp(*pattern, "HEAD")) &&
 			    !read_ref(*pattern, oid.hash)) {
-				if (!quiet)
-					show_one(*pattern, &oid);
+				show_one(*pattern, &oid);
 			}
 			else if (!quiet)
 				die("'%s' - not a valid ref", *pattern);
diff --git a/t/t1403-show-ref.sh b/t/t1403-show-ref.sh
index 7e10bcfe39..30354fd26c 100755
--- a/t/t1403-show-ref.sh
+++ b/t/t1403-show-ref.sh
@@ -97,6 +97,9 @@ test_expect_success 'show-ref -d' '
 	git show-ref -d refs/tags/A refs/tags/C >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual &&
 
+	git show-ref --verify -d refs/tags/A refs/tags/C >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual &&
+
 	echo $(git rev-parse refs/heads/master) refs/heads/master >expect &&
 	git show-ref -d master >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual &&
@@ -116,6 +119,12 @@ test_expect_success 'show-ref -d' '
 	test_cmp expect actual &&
 
 	test_must_fail git show-ref -d --verify heads/master >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual &&
+
+	test_must_fail git show-ref --verify -d A C >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual &&
+
+	test_must_fail git show-ref --verify -d tags/A tags/C >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
 
 '
@@ -164,4 +173,37 @@ test_expect_success 'show-ref --heads, --tags, --head, pattern' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'show-ref --verify HEAD' '
+	echo $(git rev-parse HEAD) HEAD >expect &&
+	git show-ref --verify HEAD >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual &&
+
+	>expect &&
+
+	git show-ref --verify -q HEAD >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'show-ref --verify with dangling ref' '
+	sha1_file() {
+		echo "$*" | sed "s#..#.git/objects/&/#"
+	} &&
+
+	remove_object() {
+		file=$(sha1_file "$*") &&
+		test -e "$file" &&
+		rm -f "$file"
+	} &&
+
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf dangling" &&
+	(
+		git init dangling &&
+		cd dangling &&
+		test_commit dangling &&
+		sha=$(git rev-parse refs/tags/dangling) &&
+		remove_object $sha &&
+		test_must_fail git show-ref --verify refs/tags/dangling
+	)
+'
+
 test_done