diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index ae5d302..46dfa83 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ Added
   Thanks `Javier Sagredo <pull 91_>`_.
 
 - Use the git config ``scriv.user_nick`` for the user nick part
-  of the fragment file. Thanks to `Ronny Pfannschmidt <pull 106_>`_,
+  of the fragment file. Thanks to `Ronny Pfannschmidt <pull 106>`_,
   fixing `issue 103`_.
 
 - Settings can now be prefixed with ``command:`` to execute the rest of the
diff --git a/docs/commands.rst b/docs/commands.rst
index 627722a..c18e7d5 100644
--- a/docs/commands.rst
+++ b/docs/commands.rst
@@ -188,12 +188,13 @@ scriv github-release
 
     Options:
       --all                Use all of the changelog entries.
+      --check-links        Check that links are valid (EXPERIMENTAL).
       --dry-run            Don't post to GitHub, just show what would be done.
       --repo TEXT          The GitHub repo (owner/reponame) to create the
                            release in.
       -v, --verbosity LVL  Either CRITICAL, ERROR, WARNING, INFO or DEBUG
       --help               Show this message and exit.
-.. [[[end]]] (checksum: eaf0f9e06575bf06499354b22928696b)
+.. [[[end]]] (checksum: 8c9e189a0429de474313b13afc36612f)
 
 The ``github-release`` command reads the changelog file, parses it into
 entries, and then creates or updates GitHub releases to match.  Only the most
diff --git a/src/scriv/ghrel.py b/src/scriv/ghrel.py
index dfb79ee..a8e861b 100644
--- a/src/scriv/ghrel.py
+++ b/src/scriv/ghrel.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 
 from .github import create_release, get_releases, update_release
 from .gitinfo import get_github_repos
+from .linkcheck import check_markdown_links
 from .scriv import Scriv
 from .shell import run_simple_command
 from .util import Version
@@ -25,6 +26,11 @@
     is_flag=True,
     help="Use all of the changelog entries.",
 )
+@click.option(
+    "--check-links",
+    is_flag=True,
+    help="Check that links are valid (EXPERIMENTAL).",
+)
 @click.option(
     "--dry-run",
     is_flag=True,
@@ -37,6 +43,7 @@
 @click_log.simple_verbosity_option()
 def github_release(
     all_entries: bool,
+    check_links: bool,
     dry_run: bool,
     repo: Optional[str] = None,
 ) -> None:
@@ -100,6 +107,9 @@ def github_release(
         )
         release_data["body"] = md
 
+        if check_links:
+            check_markdown_links(md)
+
         if version in releases:
             release = releases[version]
             if release["body"] != md:
diff --git a/src/scriv/linkcheck.py b/src/scriv/linkcheck.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..87ef489
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/scriv/linkcheck.py
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+"""Extracting and checking links."""
+
+import concurrent.futures
+import logging
+from typing import Iterable
+
+import markdown_it
+import requests
+
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+def find_links(markdown_text: str) -> Iterable[str]:
+    def walk_tokens(tokens):
+        for token in tokens:
+            if token.type == "link_open":
+                yield token.attrs["href"]
+            if token.children:
+                yield from walk_tokens(token.children)
+
+    yield from walk_tokens(markdown_it.MarkdownIt().parse(markdown_text))
+
+
+def check_markdown_links(markdown_text: str) -> None:
+    links = set(find_links(markdown_text))
+    with concurrent.futures.ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=5) as executor:
+        # Start the load operations and mark each future with its URL
+        futures = [executor.submit(check_one_link, url) for url in links]
+        concurrent.futures.wait(futures)
+
+
+def check_one_link(url):
+    while True:
+        try:
+            resp = requests.head(url, timeout=60, allow_redirects=True)
+        except requests.RequestException as exc:
+            logger.warning(f"Failed check for {url!r}: {exc}")
+            return
+        if resp.status_code == 429:
+            wait = int(resp.headers.get("Retry-After", 10))
+            time.sleep(wait + 1)
+        else:
+            break
+
+    if resp.status_code == 200:
+        logger.debug(f"OK link: {url!r}")
+    else:
+        logger.warning(f"Failed check for {url!r}: status code {resp.status_code}")