diff --git a/scripts/rbs_format.rb b/scripts/rbs_format.rb
index 5c4c50872..cbecbb84d 100644
--- a/scripts/rbs_format.rb
+++ b/scripts/rbs_format.rb
@@ -61,13 +61,30 @@ def format(source)
     formatter = SyntaxTree::RBS::Formatter.new(protected_source, [], 80)
     Format.new(formatter).visit(SyntaxTree::RBS.parse(protected_source))
     formatter.flush
-    formatter.output.join.gsub(
+    formatted = formatter.output.join.gsub(
       /# (?:class|module) #{Regexp.escape(marker)}-(\d+)\n *[^\n]+$/
     ) do
       restorations.fetch(Regexp.last_match(1).to_i)
     end
+
+    ensure_comments_preserved!(source, formatted)
+    formatted
+  end
+
+  def ensure_comments_preserved!(source, formatted)
+    return if comments(source) == comments(formatted)
+
+    raise "RBS formatter cannot safely preserve comments; format manually"
   end
 
+  def comments(source)
+    RBS::Parser.lex(source).value.filter_map do |token|
+      token.value.sub(/[ \t\r]+\z/, "") if token.comment?
+    end
+  end
+
+  private_class_method :ensure_comments_preserved!, :comments
+
   def alias_declarations(declarations)
     declarations.flat_map do |declaration|
       case declaration
diff --git a/test/scripts/rbs_format_comment_loss_test.rb b/test/scripts/rbs_format_comment_loss_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..73cf051b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/scripts/rbs_format_comment_loss_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require "minitest/autorun"
+require "tempfile"
+
+require_relative "../../scripts/rbs_format"
+
+class RBSFormatCommentLossTest < Minitest::Test
+  LOSSY_SOURCES = [
+    "type label = String # keep explanation\n",
+    "Example: String # keep explanation\n",
+    "class Example\n  def call: -> String # keep explanation\nend\n"
+  ].freeze
+
+  def test_format_refuses_results_that_lose_trailing_comments
+    LOSSY_SOURCES.each do |source|
+      error = assert_raises(RuntimeError) { RBSFormat.format(source) }
+
+      assert_equal("RBS formatter cannot safely preserve comments; format manually", error.message)
+    end
+  end
+
+  def test_check_and_write_paths_leave_lossy_source_unchanged
+    LOSSY_SOURCES.each do |source|
+      Tempfile.create(["rbs-format-comment-loss", ".rbs"]) do |file|
+        file.write(source)
+        file.flush
+
+        assert_raises(RuntimeError) { RBSFormat.run([file.path], check: true) }
+        assert_equal(source, File.read(file.path))
+
+        assert_raises(RuntimeError) { RBSFormat.run([file.path], check: false) }
+        assert_equal(source, File.read(file.path))
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  def test_preserved_comments_and_literal_hashes_still_format_idempotently
+    source = <<~RBS
+      # first comment
+      # second comment
+      # first comment
+      %a{# not a comment}
+      type label = "# not a comment"
+      class   Alias   =   ::String # alias comment
+    RBS
+    source = source.sub("# first comment\n", "# first comment  \n")
+
+    formatted = RBSFormat.format(source)
+
+    assert_equal(formatted, RBSFormat.format(formatted))
+    assert_equal(
+      ["# first comment", "# second comment", "# first comment", "# alias comment"],
+      comments(formatted)
+    )
+  end
+
+  def test_crlf_comment_whitespace_does_not_look_lossy
+    source = "# keep explanation\r\nclass   Example\r\nend\r\n"
+
+    formatted = RBSFormat.format(source)
+
+    assert_equal("# keep explanation\nclass Example\nend\n", formatted)
+    assert_equal(formatted, RBSFormat.format(formatted))
+  end
+
+  private
+
+  def comments(source)
+    RBS::Parser.lex(source).value.select(&:comment?).map do |token|
+      token.value.sub(/[ \t\r]+\z/, "")
+    end
+  end
+end