diff --git a/local/scripts/check-prefix-freshness.sh b/local/scripts/check-prefix-freshness.sh
index b0c6b45da7..cfd66ced68 100755
--- a/local/scripts/check-prefix-freshness.sh
+++ b/local/scripts/check-prefix-freshness.sh
@@ -22,28 +22,93 @@ fail() { printf '%sFAIL%s: %s\n' "$c_red" "$c_reset" "$*" >&2; }
 
 usage() {
     cat <<EOF
-Usage: $(basename "$0") [--doctor] [--simulate-staleness]
+Usage: $(basename "$0") [--doctor] [--simulate-staleness] [--scan-dead-symlinks]
 
 Check whether the compiled prefix libc.a is older than local fork commits.
 
 Options:
   --doctor              Print verbose component/file diagnostics
   --simulate-staleness   Force an artificial stale-prefix result for testing
+  --scan-dead-symlinks   Scan recipes/ for dangling symlinks and missing gitlinks
   -h, --help            Show this help
 EOF
 }
 
 doctor=0
 simulate_staleness=0
+scan_dead_symlinks=0
 for arg in "$@"; do
     case "$arg" in
         --doctor) doctor=1 ;;
         --simulate-staleness) simulate_staleness=1 ;;
+        --scan-dead-symlinks) scan_dead_symlinks=1 ;;
         -h|--help) usage; exit 0 ;;
         *) fail "unknown argument: $arg"; usage; exit 2 ;;
     esac
 done
 
+scan_dead_symlinks_mode() {
+    local broken=0 total=0 gitlink_count=0 path classification action target linkpath canonical
+    local stale_recipe_overlay=0 stale_patch_symlink=0 stale_fork_symlink=0 stale_unclassified=0 stale_submodule=0
+
+    while IFS= read -r linkpath; do
+        [[ -n "$linkpath" ]] || continue
+        (( total++ ))
+        target=$(readlink "$project_root/$linkpath" || true)
+        canonical=$(readlink -f "$project_root/$linkpath" 2>/dev/null || true)
+        if [[ -z "$canonical" ]]; then
+            canonical="$(python3 - <<'PY' "$project_root" "$linkpath" "$target"
+import os, sys
+root, linkpath, target = sys.argv[1:4]
+print(os.path.normpath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.join(root, linkpath)), target)))
+PY
+)"
+        fi
+        if [[ "$canonical" == "$project_root/local/recipes/"* ]]; then
+            classification="stale recipe overlay"
+            action="recreate or refresh the overlay under local/recipes/"
+        elif [[ "$canonical" == "$project_root/local/patches/"* ]]; then
+            classification="stale patch symlink"
+            action="restore the patch file and rewire the recipe symlink"
+        elif [[ "$canonical" == "$project_root/local/sources/"* ]]; then
+            classification="stale fork symlink"
+            action="restore the local fork source tree"
+        else
+            classification="stale symlink (unclassified)"
+            action="inspect the target and repair the symlink"
+        fi
+        if [[ ! -e "$project_root/$linkpath" ]]; then
+            printf '%s%s:1%s target=%s class=%s action=%s\n' "$c_red" "$linkpath" "$c_reset" "$target" "$classification" "$action"
+            case "$classification" in
+                "stale recipe overlay") (( stale_recipe_overlay++ )) ;;
+                "stale patch symlink") (( stale_patch_symlink++ )) ;;
+                "stale fork symlink") (( stale_fork_symlink++ )) ;;
+                *) (( stale_unclassified++ )) ;;
+            esac
+            (( broken++ ))
+        fi
+    done < <(find "$project_root/recipes" -type l ! -exec test -e {} \; -print | sed "s#^$project_root/##")
+
+    while IFS= read -r linkpath; do
+        [[ -n "$linkpath" ]] || continue
+        if [[ ! -e "$project_root/$linkpath" ]]; then
+            printf '%s%s:1%s target=%s class=%s action=update submodule path or initialize submodule\n' "$c_red" "$linkpath" "$c_reset" "missing" "missing submodule path"
+            (( stale_submodule++ ))
+            (( broken++ ))
+        fi
+        (( gitlink_count++ ))
+    done < <(git -C "$project_root" ls-tree -r --full-tree HEAD | awk '$1 == "160000" {print $4}')
+
+    if (( broken )); then
+        warn "dead symlink scan found $broken issue(s) across $total dangling link(s) and $gitlink_count gitlink(s)"
+        printf '%sSummary:%s recipe overlay=%s patch symlink=%s fork symlink=%s unclassified=%s submodule=%s\n' \
+            "$c_yellow" "$c_reset" "$stale_recipe_overlay" "$stale_patch_symlink" "$stale_fork_symlink" "$stale_unclassified" "$stale_submodule"
+        return 1
+    fi
+
+    ok "dead symlink scan clean ($total dangling links checked, $gitlink_count gitlinks checked)"
+}
+
 latest_prefix_mtime() {
     local latest=0 path ts
     for path in \
@@ -85,6 +150,13 @@ for component in "${components[@]}"; do
     fi
 done
 
+if (( scan_dead_symlinks )); then
+    if scan_dead_symlinks_mode; then
+        exit 0
+    fi
+    exit 1
+fi
+
 if (( stale )); then
     warn "prefix is stale — run ./local/scripts/build-redbear.sh --upstream"
     exit 1