diff --git a/internal/git/housekeeping/manager/optimize_repository.go b/internal/git/housekeeping/manager/optimize_repository.go
index 0e433c329ecd551bad3c2cd6a26dac32f34e9716..6601e0b35791ebdbc5a38d3b802bc7f6c7ac0e00 100644
--- a/internal/git/housekeeping/manager/optimize_repository.go
+++ b/internal/git/housekeeping/manager/optimize_repository.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitaly/v16/internal/git/localrepo"
 	"gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitaly/v16/internal/git/stats"
 	"gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitaly/v16/internal/gitaly/storage"
+	"gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitaly/v16/internal/log"
 	"gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitaly/v16/internal/structerr"
 	"gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitaly/v16/internal/tracing"
 	"gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitaly/v16/proto/go/gitalypb"
@@ -435,9 +436,32 @@ func (m *RepositoryManager) packRefsIfNeeded(ctx context.Context, repo *localrep
 		return false, fmt.Errorf("packing refs: %w, stderr: %q", err, stderr.String())
 	}
 
+	if err := m.verifyRefs(ctx, repo); err != nil {
+		m.logger.WithFields(log.Fields{
+			"storage":       repo.GetStorageName(),
+			"relative_path": repo.GetRelativePath(),
+		}).WithError(err).WarnContext(ctx, "refs verification failed")
+		m.metrics.FailedVerifyRefs.WithLabelValues(repo.GetStorageName()).Inc()
+	}
+
 	return true, nil
 }
 
+func (m *RepositoryManager) verifyRefs(ctx context.Context, repo *localrepo.Repo) error {
+	var stderr bytes.Buffer
+	if err := repo.ExecAndWait(ctx, gitcmd.Command{
+		Name:   "refs",
+		Action: "verify",
+		Flags: []gitcmd.Option{
+			gitcmd.Flag{Name: "--strict"},
+		},
+	}, gitcmd.WithStderr(&stderr)); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("verify refs: %w, stderr: %q", err, stderr.String())
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
 // CleanStaleData removes any stale data in the repository as per the provided configuration.
 func (m *RepositoryManager) CleanStaleData(ctx context.Context, repo *localrepo.Repo, cfg housekeeping.CleanStaleDataConfig) error {
 	span, ctx := tracing.StartSpanIfHasParent(ctx, "housekeeping.CleanStaleData", nil)
diff --git a/internal/git/housekeeping/manager/optimize_repository_test.go b/internal/git/housekeeping/manager/optimize_repository_test.go
index 462e5a60d06940fbad6205860de57be3b354b549..a6b34201069e978732e5bea1e7d677b84467d1ef 100644
--- a/internal/git/housekeeping/manager/optimize_repository_test.go
+++ b/internal/git/housekeeping/manager/optimize_repository_test.go
@@ -421,6 +421,7 @@ func TestPackRefsIfNeeded(t *testing.T) {
 			ctx := testhelper.Context(t)
 			cfg := testcfg.Build(t)
 			logger := testhelper.NewLogger(t)
+			logHook := testhelper.AddLoggerHook(logger)
 
 			gitCmdFactory := blockingCommandFactory{
 				CommandFactory: gittest.NewCommandFactory(t, cfg),
@@ -457,10 +458,75 @@ func TestPackRefsIfNeeded(t *testing.T) {
 				require.FileExists(t, looseRefPath)
 			}
 
+			testhelper.RequirePromMetrics(t, manager.metrics.FailedVerifyRefs, "")
+
+			var logs []string
+			for _, entry := range logHook.AllEntries() {
+				logs = append(logs, entry.Message)
+			}
+			require.NotContains(t, logs, "refs verification failed")
+
 			_, ok := manager.repositoryStates.values[repositoryStatesKey(repo)]
 			require.Equal(t, tc.repoStateExists, ok)
 		})
 	}
+
+	t.Run("failure in refs verification", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Parallel()
+
+		ctx := testhelper.Context(t)
+		cfg := testcfg.Build(t)
+		logger := testhelper.NewLogger(t)
+		logHook := testhelper.AddLoggerHook(logger)
+
+		gitCmdFactory := errorInjectingCommandFactory{
+			CommandFactory: gittest.NewCommandFactory(t, cfg),
+			injectedErrors: map[string]error{
+				"refs": assert.AnError,
+			},
+		}
+
+		repoProto, repoPath := gittest.CreateRepository(t, ctx, cfg, gittest.CreateRepositoryConfig{
+			SkipCreationViaService: true,
+		})
+		repo := localrepo.New(logger, gitalycfg.NewLocator(cfg), &gitCmdFactory, nil, repoProto)
+
+		// Write an empty commit such that we can create valid refs.
+		gittest.WriteCommit(t, cfg, repoPath, gittest.WithBranch("main"))
+
+		packedRefsPath := filepath.Join(repoPath, "packed-refs")
+		looseRefPath := filepath.Join(repoPath, "refs", "heads", "main")
+
+		manager := New(gitalycfgprom.Config{}, logger, nil, nil)
+
+		didRepack, err := manager.packRefsIfNeeded(ctx, repo, mockOptimizationStrategy{
+			shouldRepackReferences: func(ctx context.Context) bool { return true },
+		})
+
+		// The verification failure is localized to the method scope and do not propagate to the calling code.
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.True(t, didRepack)
+		require.FileExists(t, packedRefsPath)
+		require.NoFileExists(t, looseRefPath)
+
+		var buf bytes.Buffer
+		_, err = buf.WriteString("# HELP gitaly_housekeeping_failed_verify_refs Number of git refs verify failures during housekeeping\n")
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		_, err = buf.WriteString("# TYPE gitaly_housekeeping_failed_verify_refs counter\n")
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		_, err = buf.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf(
+			"gitaly_housekeeping_failed_verify_refs{storage=%q} 1\n",
+			repo.GetStorageName(),
+		))
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		testhelper.RequirePromMetrics(t, manager.metrics.FailedVerifyRefs, buf.String())
+
+		var logs []string
+		for _, entry := range logHook.AllEntries() {
+			logs = append(logs, entry.Message)
+		}
+		require.Contains(t, logs, "refs verification failed")
+	})
 }
 
 func TestOptimizeRepository(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/internal/git/housekeeping/metrics.go b/internal/git/housekeeping/metrics.go
index fb424af9759f5e6e3cb8a291d2d2c07703eacad4..222ee7cd569854412e7ea78b5dc910049ffbca54 100644
--- a/internal/git/housekeeping/metrics.go
+++ b/internal/git/housekeeping/metrics.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ type Metrics struct {
 	PrunedFilesTotal                       *prometheus.CounterVec
 	TasksLatency                           *prometheus.HistogramVec
 	TasksTotal                             *prometheus.CounterVec
+	FailedVerifyRefs                       *prometheus.CounterVec
 }
 
 // NewMetrics returns a new metric wrapper object.
@@ -45,6 +46,13 @@ func NewMetrics(promCfg gitalycfgprom.Config) *Metrics {
 			},
 			[]string{"filetype"},
 		),
+		FailedVerifyRefs: prometheus.NewCounterVec(
+			prometheus.CounterOpts{
+				Name: "gitaly_housekeeping_failed_verify_refs",
+				Help: "Number of git refs verify failures during housekeeping",
+			},
+			[]string{"storage"},
+		),
 		DataStructureExistence: prometheus.NewCounterVec(
 			prometheus.CounterOpts{
 				Name: "gitaly_housekeeping_data_structure_existence_total",
@@ -108,6 +116,7 @@ func (m *Metrics) Collect(metrics chan<- prometheus.Metric) {
 	m.TasksTotal.Collect(metrics)
 	m.TasksLatency.Collect(metrics)
 	m.PrunedFilesTotal.Collect(metrics)
+	m.FailedVerifyRefs.Collect(metrics)
 	m.DataStructureExistence.Collect(metrics)
 	m.DataStructureCount.Collect(metrics)
 	m.DataStructureSize.Collect(metrics)