diff --git a/t/t6500-gc.sh b/t/t6500-gc.sh
index 63194d819ef..ed22dcc76fe 100755
--- a/t/t6500-gc.sh
+++ b/t/t6500-gc.sh
@@ -30,4 +30,17 @@ test_expect_success 'gc -h with invalid configuration' '
 	test_i18ngrep "[Uu]sage" broken/usage
 '
 
+test_expect_failure 'gc is not aborted due to a stale symref' '
+	git init remote &&
+	(
+		cd remote &&
+		test_commit initial &&
+		git clone . ../client &&
+		git branch -m develop &&
+		cd ../client &&
+		git fetch --prune &&
+		git gc
+	)
+'
+
 test_done