diff --git a/pdf.c b/pdf.c
index 9a1ce545caf3c3c42b1d36d421012c6a045981b5..9ad84b323b8a2fdf37d7cb7a002d25bb2c2ca2b4 100644
--- a/pdf.c
+++ b/pdf.c
@@ -710,9 +710,10 @@ init_parser(struct Env *aux)
 
 	H_RULE(hdr_junk,    VIOL(h_many1(h_butnot(h_ch_range(0, 255), objdef)),
 				 "Uncommented junk after header (severity=1)"));
-	H_RULE(tail,	SEQ(body, h_optional(xr_td), startxr));
-		// XXX the real world likes to omit 'startxr' from all but the
-		// last trailer. we should accept-and-warn in that case.
+	H_RULE(tail,	SEQ(body, CHX(SEQ(h_optional(xr_td), startxr),
+				      VIOL(SEQ(xr_td, OPT(SEQ(nl, KW("startxref"), nl, lws, nat, nl)),
+					       OPT(nl), OPT(LIT("%%EOF")), OPT(nl)),
+					   "Improper end of trailer - missing startxref and/or %%EOF (severity=5)"))));
 	H_RULE(final_eof_junk, CHX(VIOL(SEQ(h_many1(nl), end), "Multiple newlines after final %%EOF (severity=4)"),
 				   VIOL(h_many1(h_butnot(h_ch_range(0, 255), LIT("%%EOF"))),
 					"Data after final %%EOF (severity=7)"),