diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/dev-cmd/audit.rb b/Library/Homebrew/dev-cmd/audit.rb
index a8c18f7b63..90dd03c1c5 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/dev-cmd/audit.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/dev-cmd/audit.rb
@@ -755,6 +755,9 @@ class FormulaAuditor
       if version.to_s !~ /\d/
         problem "#{name}: version (#{version}) is set to a string without a digit"
       end
+      if version.to_s.start_with?("HEAD")
+        problem "#{name}: non-HEAD version name (#{version}) should not begin with HEAD"
+      end
     end
 
     if formula.stable && formula.devel