diff --git a/builtin/show-ref.c b/builtin/show-ref.c
index 6d4e669002..0e53e3da4f 100644
--- a/builtin/show-ref.c
+++ b/builtin/show-ref.c
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ 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);
diff --git a/t/t1403-show-ref.sh b/t/t1403-show-ref.sh
index 7e10bcfe39..5932beada1 100755
--- a/t/t1403-show-ref.sh
+++ b/t/t1403-show-ref.sh
@@ -164,4 +164,15 @@ 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_done