diff --git a/refs/files-backend.c b/refs/files-backend.c
index 12290d2496..087a8fa024 100644
--- a/refs/files-backend.c
+++ b/refs/files-backend.c
@@ -1496,6 +1496,11 @@ int read_raw_ref(const char *refname, unsigned char *sha1,
 			ret = 0;
 			goto out;
 		}
+		/*
+		 * It doesn't look like a refname; fall through to just
+		 * treating it like a non-symlink, and reading whatever it
+		 * points to.
+		 */
 	}
 
 	/* Is it a directory? */
@@ -1519,7 +1524,7 @@ int read_raw_ref(const char *refname, unsigned char *sha1,
 	 */
 	fd = open(path, O_RDONLY);
 	if (fd < 0) {
-		if (errno == ENOENT)
+		if (errno == ENOENT && !S_ISLNK(st.st_mode))
 			/* inconsistent with lstat; retry */
 			goto stat_ref;
 		else
diff --git a/t/t1503-rev-parse-verify.sh b/t/t1503-rev-parse-verify.sh
index ab27d0db5c..492edffa9c 100755
--- a/t/t1503-rev-parse-verify.sh
+++ b/t/t1503-rev-parse-verify.sh
@@ -139,4 +139,9 @@ test_expect_success 'master@{n} for various n' '
 	test_must_fail git rev-parse --verify master@{$Np1}
 '
 
+test_expect_success SYMLINKS 'ref resolution not confused by broken symlinks' '
+	ln -s does-not-exist .git/refs/heads/broken &&
+	test_must_fail git rev-parse --verify broken
+'
+
 test_done