diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/file/GcPackRefsTest.java b/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/file/GcPackRefsTest.java
index 11a2a22ed..c43bdbd29 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/file/GcPackRefsTest.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/file/GcPackRefsTest.java
@@ -43,12 +43,13 @@
 
 package org.eclipse.jgit.internal.storage.file;
 
-import static java.lang.Integer.valueOf;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.lessThanOrEqualTo;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertNotNull;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertNull;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertSame;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertThat;
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -74,6 +75,7 @@
 import org.eclipse.jgit.storage.file.FileBasedConfig;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
+@SuppressWarnings("boxing")
 public class GcPackRefsTest extends GcTestCase {
 	@Test
 	public void looseRefPacked() throws Exception {
@@ -100,27 +102,23 @@ public void concurrentOnlyOneWritesPackedRefs() throws Exception {
 		RevBlob a = tr.blob("a");
 		tr.lightweightTag("t", a);
 
-		final CyclicBarrier syncPoint = new CyclicBarrier(2);
+		CyclicBarrier syncPoint = new CyclicBarrier(2);
 
-		Callable<Integer> packRefs = new Callable<Integer>() {
-
-			/** @return 0 for success, 1 in case of error when writing pack */
-			@Override
-			public Integer call() throws Exception {
-				syncPoint.await();
-				try {
-					gc.packRefs();
-					return valueOf(0);
-				} catch (IOException e) {
-					return valueOf(1);
-				}
+		// Returns 0 for success, 1 in case of error when writing pack.
+		Callable<Integer> packRefs = () -> {
+			syncPoint.await();
+			try {
+				gc.packRefs();
+				return 0;
+			} catch (IOException e) {
+				return 1;
 			}
 		};
 		ExecutorService pool = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(2);
 		try {
 			Future<Integer> p1 = pool.submit(packRefs);
 			Future<Integer> p2 = pool.submit(packRefs);
-			assertEquals(1, p1.get().intValue() + p2.get().intValue());
+			assertThat(p1.get() + p2.get(), lessThanOrEqualTo(1));
 		} finally {
 			pool.shutdown();
 			pool.awaitTermination(Long.MAX_VALUE, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/file/RefDirectory.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/file/RefDirectory.java
index 5d66a4fbd..e03bd8723 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/file/RefDirectory.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/file/RefDirectory.java
@@ -914,8 +914,24 @@ protected void writeFile(String name, byte[] content)
 					throw new ObjectWritingException(MessageFormat.format(JGitText.get().unableToWrite, name));
 
 				byte[] digest = Constants.newMessageDigest().digest(content);
-				packedRefs.compareAndSet(oldPackedList, new PackedRefList(refs,
-						lck.getCommitSnapshot(), ObjectId.fromRaw(digest)));
+				PackedRefList newPackedList = new PackedRefList(
+						refs, lck.getCommitSnapshot(), ObjectId.fromRaw(digest));
+
+				// This thread holds the file lock, so no other thread or process should
+				// be able to modify the packed-refs file on disk. If the list changed,
+				// it means something is very wrong, so throw an exception.
+				//
+				// However, we can't use a naive compareAndSet to check whether the
+				// update was successful, because another thread might _read_ the
+				// packed refs file that was written out by this thread while holding
+				// the lock, and update the packedRefs reference to point to that. So
+				// compare the actual contents instead.
+				PackedRefList afterUpdate = packedRefs.updateAndGet(
+						p -> p.id.equals(oldPackedList.id) ? newPackedList : p);
+				if (!afterUpdate.id.equals(newPackedList.id)) {
+					throw new ObjectWritingException(
+							MessageFormat.format(JGitText.get().unableToWrite, name));
+				}
 			}
 		}.writePackedRefs();
 	}