diff --git a/src/validate/html/index.ts b/src/validate/html/index.ts
index b09cece0e4..ad653daa63 100644
--- a/src/validate/html/index.ts
+++ b/src/validate/html/index.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 import * as namespaces from '../../utils/namespaces';
 import validateElement from './validateElement';
 import validateWindow from './validateWindow';
+import fuzzymatch from '../utils/fuzzymatch'
+import flattenReference from '../../utils/flattenReference';
 import { Validator } from '../index';
 import { Node } from '../../interfaces';
 
@@ -11,6 +13,9 @@ const meta = new Map([[':Window', validateWindow]]);
 export default function validateHtml(validator: Validator, html: Node) {
 	let elementDepth = 0;
 
+	const refs = new Map();
+	const refCallees: Node[] = [];
+
 	function visit(node: Node) {
 		if (node.type === 'Element') {
 			if (
@@ -25,12 +30,12 @@ export default function validateHtml(validator: Validator, html: Node) {
 			}
 
 			if (meta.has(node.name)) {
-				return meta.get(node.name)(validator, node);
+				return meta.get(node.name)(validator, node, refs, refCallees);
 			}
 
 			elementDepth += 1;
 
-			validateElement(validator, node);
+			validateElement(validator, node, refs, refCallees);
 		} else if (node.type === 'EachBlock') {
 			if (validator.helpers.has(node.context)) {
 				let c = node.expression.end;
@@ -61,4 +66,20 @@ export default function validateHtml(validator: Validator, html: Node) {
 	}
 
 	html.children.forEach(visit);
+
+	refCallees.forEach(callee => {
+		const { parts } = flattenReference(callee);
+		const ref = parts[1];
+
+		if (refs.has(ref)) {
+			// TODO check method is valid, e.g. `audio.stop()` should be `audio.pause()`
+		} else {
+			const match = fuzzymatch(ref, Array.from(refs.keys()));
+
+			let message = `'refs.${ref}' does not exist`;
+			if (match) message += ` (did you mean 'refs.${match}'?)`;
+
+			validator.error(message, callee.start);
+		}
+	});
 }
diff --git a/src/validate/html/validateElement.ts b/src/validate/html/validateElement.ts
index 69a50b6cff..6658895c58 100644
--- a/src/validate/html/validateElement.ts
+++ b/src/validate/html/validateElement.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import validateEventHandler from './validateEventHandler';
 import { Validator } from '../index';
 import { Node } from '../../interfaces';
 
-export default function validateElement(validator: Validator, node: Node) {
+export default function validateElement(validator: Validator, node: Node, refs: Map<string, Node[]>, refCallees: Node[]) {
 	const isComponent =
 		node.name === ':Self' || validator.components.has(node.name);
 
@@ -16,6 +16,11 @@ export default function validateElement(validator: Validator, node: Node) {
 	let hasTransition: boolean;
 
 	node.attributes.forEach((attribute: Node) => {
+		if (attribute.type === 'Ref') {
+			if (!refs.has(attribute.name)) refs.set(attribute.name, []);
+			refs.get(attribute.name).push(node);
+		}
+
 		if (!isComponent && attribute.type === 'Binding') {
 			const { name } = attribute;
 
@@ -80,7 +85,7 @@ export default function validateElement(validator: Validator, node: Node) {
 				);
 			}
 		} else if (attribute.type === 'EventHandler') {
-			validateEventHandler(validator, attribute);
+			validateEventHandler(validator, attribute, refCallees);
 		} else if (attribute.type === 'Transition') {
 			const bidi = attribute.intro && attribute.outro;
 
diff --git a/src/validate/html/validateEventHandler.ts b/src/validate/html/validateEventHandler.ts
index 85fdad08e6..71d8a26fc5 100644
--- a/src/validate/html/validateEventHandler.ts
+++ b/src/validate/html/validateEventHandler.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@ const validBuiltins = new Set(['set', 'fire', 'destroy']);
 
 export default function validateEventHandlerCallee(
 	validator: Validator,
-	attribute: Node
+	attribute: Node,
+	refCallees: Node[]
 ) {
 	const { callee, start, type } = attribute.expression;
 
@@ -18,6 +19,12 @@ export default function validateEventHandlerCallee(
 	const { name } = flattenReference(callee);
 
 	if (name === 'this' || name === 'event') return;
+
+	if (name === 'refs') {
+		refCallees.push(callee);
+		return;
+	}
+
 	if (
 		(callee.type === 'Identifier' && validBuiltins.has(callee.name)) ||
 		validator.methods.has(callee.name)
diff --git a/src/validate/html/validateWindow.ts b/src/validate/html/validateWindow.ts
index 7c78b7f37d..e451bcc534 100644
--- a/src/validate/html/validateWindow.ts
+++ b/src/validate/html/validateWindow.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ const validBindings = [
 	'scrollY',
 ];
 
-export default function validateWindow(validator: Validator, node: Node) {
+export default function validateWindow(validator: Validator, node: Node, refs: Map<string, Node[]>, refCallees: Node[]) {
 	node.attributes.forEach((attribute: Node) => {
 		if (attribute.type === 'Binding') {
 			if (attribute.value.type !== 'Identifier') {
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ export default function validateWindow(validator: Validator, node: Node) {
 				}
 			}
 		} else if (attribute.type === 'EventHandler') {
-			validateEventHandler(validator, attribute);
+			validateEventHandler(validator, attribute, refCallees);
 		}
 	});
 }
diff --git a/test/validator/index.js b/test/validator/index.js
index 0782997573..9b4f4900b7 100644
--- a/test/validator/index.js
+++ b/test/validator/index.js
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ describe("validate", () => {
 			const filename = `test/validator/samples/${dir}/input.html`;
 			const input = fs.readFileSync(filename, "utf-8").replace(/\s+$/, "");
 
+			const expectedWarnings = tryToLoadJson(`test/validator/samples/${dir}/warnings.json`) || [];
+			const expectedErrors = tryToLoadJson(`test/validator/samples/${dir}/errors.json`);
+			let error;
+
 			try {
 				const warnings = [];
 
@@ -30,20 +34,25 @@ describe("validate", () => {
 					}
 				});
 
-				const expectedWarnings =
-					tryToLoadJson(`test/validator/samples/${dir}/warnings.json`) || [];
-
 				assert.deepEqual(warnings, expectedWarnings);
-			} catch (err) {
-				try {
-					const expected = require(`./samples/${dir}/errors.json`)[0];
+			} catch (e) {
+				error = e;
+			}
+
+			const expected = expectedErrors && expectedErrors[0];
 
-					assert.equal(err.message, expected.message);
-					assert.deepEqual(err.loc, expected.loc);
-					assert.equal(err.pos, expected.pos);
-				} catch (err2) {
-					throw err2.code === "MODULE_NOT_FOUND" ? err : err2;
+			if (error || expected) {
+				if (error && !expected) {
+					throw error;
 				}
+
+				if (expected && !error) {
+					throw new Error(`Expected an error: ${expected.message}`);
+				}
+
+				assert.equal(error.message, expected.message);
+				assert.deepEqual(error.loc, expected.loc);
+				assert.equal(error.pos, expected.pos);
 			}
 		});
 	});
diff --git a/test/validator/samples/event-handler-ref-invalid/errors.json b/test/validator/samples/event-handler-ref-invalid/errors.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3ec1eb61b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/validator/samples/event-handler-ref-invalid/errors.json
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+[{
+	"message": "'refs.inputx' does not exist (did you mean 'refs.input'?)",
+	"pos": 36,
+	"loc": {
+		"line": 2,
+		"column": 18
+	}
+}]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/validator/samples/event-handler-ref-invalid/input.html b/test/validator/samples/event-handler-ref-invalid/input.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f6cbe90c3a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/validator/samples/event-handler-ref-invalid/input.html
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+<input ref:input>
+<button on:click='refs.inputx.focus()'>focus input</button>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/validator/samples/event-handler-ref/input.html b/test/validator/samples/event-handler-ref/input.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e4fa0dec0f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/validator/samples/event-handler-ref/input.html
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+<input ref:input>
+<button on:click='refs.input.focus()'>focus input</button>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/validator/samples/event-handler-ref/warnings.json b/test/validator/samples/event-handler-ref/warnings.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0637a088a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/validator/samples/event-handler-ref/warnings.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+[]
\ No newline at end of file