diff --git a/commands/command_pointer.go b/commands/command_pointer.go
index c6595283..1270f103 100644
--- a/commands/command_pointer.go
+++ b/commands/command_pointer.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 
 	"github.com/git-lfs/git-lfs/git"
@@ -18,6 +19,7 @@ var (
 	pointerFile    string
 	pointerCompare string
 	pointerStdin   bool
+	pointerCheck   bool
 )
 
 func pointerCommand(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
@@ -26,6 +28,36 @@ func pointerCommand(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 	buildOid := ""
 	compareOid := ""
 
+	if pointerCheck {
+		var r io.ReadCloser
+		var err error
+
+		if len(pointerCompare) > 0 {
+			ExitWithError(fmt.Errorf("fatal: cannot combine --check with --compare"))
+		}
+
+		if len(pointerFile) > 0 {
+			if pointerStdin {
+				ExitWithError(fmt.Errorf("fatal: with --check, --file cannot be combined with --stdin"))
+			}
+			r, err = os.Open(pointerFile)
+			if err != nil {
+				ExitWithError(err)
+			}
+		} else if pointerStdin {
+			r = ioutil.NopCloser(os.Stdin)
+		} else {
+			ExitWithError(fmt.Errorf("fatal: must specify either --file or --stdin with --compare"))
+		}
+
+		_, err = lfs.DecodePointer(r)
+		if err != nil {
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
+		r.Close()
+		return
+	}
+
 	if len(pointerCompare) > 0 || pointerStdin {
 		comparing = true
 	}
@@ -129,5 +161,6 @@ func init() {
 		cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&pointerFile, "file", "f", "", "Path to a local file to generate the pointer from.")
 		cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&pointerCompare, "pointer", "p", "", "Path to a local file containing a pointer built by another Git LFS implementation.")
 		cmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&pointerStdin, "stdin", "", false, "Read a pointer built by another Git LFS implementation through STDIN.")
+		cmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&pointerCheck, "check", "", false, "Check whether the given file is a Git LFS pointer.")
 	})
 }
diff --git a/docs/man/git-lfs-pointer.1.ronn b/docs/man/git-lfs-pointer.1.ronn
index 75eeeec0..b1b6ccce 100644
--- a/docs/man/git-lfs-pointer.1.ronn
+++ b/docs/man/git-lfs-pointer.1.ronn
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
-git-lfs-pointer(1) -- Build and compare pointers
-================================================
+git-lfs-pointer(1) -- Build, compare, and check pointers
+========================================================
 
 ## SYNOPSIS
 
 `git lfs pointer --file=path/to/file`<br>
 `git lfs pointer --file=path/to/file --pointer=path/to/pointer`<br>
 `git lfs pointer --file=path/to/file --stdin`
+`git lfs pointer --check --file=path/to/file`
 
 ## Description
 
@@ -25,6 +26,12 @@ between different Git LFS implementations.
     Reads the pointer from STDIN to compare with the pointer generated from
     `--file`.
 
+* `--check`:
+    Reads the pointer from STDIN (if `--stdin` is given) or the filepath (if
+    `--file`) is given. If neither or both of `--stdin` and `--file` are given,
+    the invocation is invalid. Exits 0 if the data read is a valid Git LFS
+    pointer. Exits 1 otherwise.
+
 ## SEE ALSO
 
 Part of the git-lfs(1) suite.
diff --git a/t/t-pointer.sh b/t/t-pointer.sh
index e744bc9b..623fcea2 100755
--- a/t/t-pointer.sh
+++ b/t/t-pointer.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 
 . "$(dirname "$0")/testlib.sh"
 
-
 begin_test "pointer --file --stdin"
 (
   set -e
@@ -302,3 +301,57 @@ begin_test "pointer to console"
   grep "oid sha256:e96ec1bd71eea8df78b24c64a7ab9d42dd7f821c4e503f0e2288273b9bff6c16" pointer.txt
 )
 end_test
+
+begin_test "pointer --check (with valid pointer)"
+(
+  set -e
+
+  reponame="pointer---check-valid-pointer"
+  git init "$reponame"
+  cd "$reponame"
+
+  echo "contents" > good.txt
+  git lfs pointer --file good.txt > good.ptr
+
+  cat good.ptr
+
+  git lfs pointer --check --file good.ptr
+  git lfs pointer --check --stdin < good.ptr
+)
+end_test
+
+begin_test "pointer --check (with invalid pointer)"
+(
+  set -e
+
+  reponame="pointer---check-invalid-pointer"
+  git init "$reponame"
+  cd "$reponame"
+
+  echo "not-a-pointer" > bad.ptr
+
+  ! git lfs pointer --check --file bad.ptr
+  ! git lfs pointer --check --stdin < bad.ptr
+)
+end_test
+
+begin_test "pointer --check (with invalid arguments)"
+(
+  set -e
+
+  reponame="pointer---check-invalid-pointer"
+  git init "$reponame"
+  cd "$reponame"
+
+  touch a.txt
+
+  # git-lfs-pointer(1) --check with invalid combination --compare
+  ! git lfs pointer --check --compare
+
+  # git-lfs-pointer(1) --check without --file or --stdin
+  ! git lfs pointer --check
+
+  # git-lfs-pointer(1) --check with --file and --stdin
+  ! git lfs pointer --check --file a.txt --stdin
+)
+end_test