diff --git a/builtin/fsck.c b/builtin/fsck.c
index 8abe6440bd..ca3018c6c5 100644
--- a/builtin/fsck.c
+++ b/builtin/fsck.c
@@ -495,6 +495,7 @@ static int fsck_handle_ref(const char *refname, const unsigned char *sha1, int f
 	obj = parse_object(sha1);
 	if (!obj) {
 		error("%s: invalid sha1 pointer %s", refname, sha1_to_hex(sha1));
+		errors_found |= ERROR_REACHABLE;
 		/* We'll continue with the rest despite the error.. */
 		return 0;
 	}
@@ -511,7 +512,7 @@ static void get_default_heads(void)
 {
 	if (head_points_at && !is_null_sha1(head_sha1))
 		fsck_handle_ref("HEAD", head_sha1, 0, NULL);
-	for_each_ref(fsck_handle_ref, NULL);
+	for_each_rawref(fsck_handle_ref, NULL);
 	if (include_reflogs)
 		for_each_reflog(fsck_handle_reflog, NULL);
 
diff --git a/t/t1450-fsck.sh b/t/t1450-fsck.sh
index 0de755cedf..b52397afd3 100755
--- a/t/t1450-fsck.sh
+++ b/t/t1450-fsck.sh
@@ -302,4 +302,60 @@ test_expect_success 'fsck notices ".git" in trees' '
 	)
 '
 
+# create a static test repo which is broken by omitting
+# one particular object ($1, which is looked up via rev-parse
+# in the new repository).
+create_repo_missing () {
+	rm -rf missing &&
+	git init missing &&
+	(
+		cd missing &&
+		git commit -m one --allow-empty &&
+		mkdir subdir &&
+		echo content >subdir/file &&
+		git add subdir/file &&
+		git commit -m two &&
+		unrelated=$(echo unrelated | git hash-object --stdin -w) &&
+		git tag -m foo tag $unrelated &&
+		sha1=$(git rev-parse --verify "$1") &&
+		path=$(echo $sha1 | sed 's|..|&/|') &&
+		rm .git/objects/$path
+	)
+}
+
+test_expect_success 'fsck notices missing blob' '
+	create_repo_missing HEAD:subdir/file &&
+	test_must_fail git -C missing fsck
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'fsck notices missing subtree' '
+	create_repo_missing HEAD:subdir &&
+	test_must_fail git -C missing fsck
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'fsck notices missing root tree' '
+	create_repo_missing HEAD^{tree} &&
+	test_must_fail git -C missing fsck
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'fsck notices missing parent' '
+	create_repo_missing HEAD^ &&
+	test_must_fail git -C missing fsck
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'fsck notices missing tagged object' '
+	create_repo_missing tag^{blob} &&
+	test_must_fail git -C missing fsck
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'fsck notices ref pointing to missing commit' '
+	create_repo_missing HEAD &&
+	test_must_fail git -C missing fsck
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'fsck notices ref pointing to missing tag' '
+	create_repo_missing tag &&
+	test_must_fail git -C missing fsck
+'
+
 test_done