diff --git a/src/librustdoc/config.rs b/src/librustdoc/config.rs
index 5dbcc5c9ec8b9..35b15cf717cee 100644
--- a/src/librustdoc/config.rs
+++ b/src/librustdoc/config.rs
@@ -123,10 +123,6 @@ pub struct Options {
     ///
     /// Be aware: This option can come both from the CLI and from crate attributes!
     pub default_passes: DefaultPassOption,
-    /// Document items that have lower than `pub` visibility.
-    pub document_private: bool,
-    /// Document items that have `doc(hidden)`.
-    pub document_hidden: bool,
     /// Any passes manually selected by the user.
     ///
     /// Be aware: This option can come both from the CLI and from crate attributes!
@@ -177,8 +173,6 @@ impl fmt::Debug for Options {
             .field("test_args", &self.test_args)
             .field("persist_doctests", &self.persist_doctests)
             .field("default_passes", &self.default_passes)
-            .field("document_private", &self.document_private)
-            .field("document_hidden", &self.document_hidden)
             .field("manual_passes", &self.manual_passes)
             .field("display_warnings", &self.display_warnings)
             .field("show_coverage", &self.show_coverage)
@@ -250,6 +244,10 @@ pub struct RenderOptions {
     pub generate_search_filter: bool,
     /// Option (disabled by default) to generate files used by RLS and some other tools.
     pub generate_redirect_pages: bool,
+    /// Document items that have lower than `pub` visibility.
+    pub document_private: bool,
+    /// Document items that have `doc(hidden)`.
+    pub document_hidden: bool,
 }
 
 impl Options {
@@ -567,8 +565,6 @@ impl Options {
             should_test,
             test_args,
             default_passes,
-            document_private,
-            document_hidden,
             manual_passes,
             display_warnings,
             show_coverage,
@@ -597,6 +593,8 @@ impl Options {
                 markdown_playground_url,
                 generate_search_filter,
                 generate_redirect_pages,
+                document_private,
+                document_hidden,
             },
             output_format,
         })
diff --git a/src/librustdoc/core.rs b/src/librustdoc/core.rs
index 1690b946bb625..8ab6c74289d17 100644
--- a/src/librustdoc/core.rs
+++ b/src/librustdoc/core.rs
@@ -62,6 +62,8 @@ pub struct DocContext<'tcx> {
     // FIXME(eddyb) make this a `ty::TraitRef<'tcx>` set.
     pub generated_synthetics: RefCell<FxHashSet<(Ty<'tcx>, DefId)>>,
     pub auto_traits: Vec<DefId>,
+    /// The options given to rustdoc that could be relevant to a pass.
+    pub render_options: RenderOptions,
 }
 
 impl<'tcx> DocContext<'tcx> {
@@ -281,8 +283,6 @@ pub fn run_core(options: RustdocOptions) -> (clean::Crate, RenderInfo, RenderOpt
         describe_lints,
         lint_cap,
         mut default_passes,
-        mut document_private,
-        document_hidden,
         mut manual_passes,
         display_warnings,
         render_options,
@@ -448,6 +448,7 @@ pub fn run_core(options: RustdocOptions) -> (clean::Crate, RenderInfo, RenderOpt
                         .cloned()
                         .filter(|trait_def_id| tcx.trait_is_auto(*trait_def_id))
                         .collect(),
+                    render_options,
                 };
                 debug!("crate: {:?}", tcx.hir().krate());
 
@@ -524,7 +525,7 @@ pub fn run_core(options: RustdocOptions) -> (clean::Crate, RenderInfo, RenderOpt
                     }
 
                     if attr.is_word() && name == sym::document_private_items {
-                        document_private = true;
+                        ctxt.render_options.document_private = true;
                     }
                 }
 
@@ -544,9 +545,9 @@ pub fn run_core(options: RustdocOptions) -> (clean::Crate, RenderInfo, RenderOpt
                 for p in passes {
                     let run = match p.condition {
                         Always => true,
-                        WhenDocumentPrivate => document_private,
-                        WhenNotDocumentPrivate => !document_private,
-                        WhenNotDocumentHidden => !document_hidden,
+                        WhenDocumentPrivate => ctxt.render_options.document_private,
+                        WhenNotDocumentPrivate => !ctxt.render_options.document_private,
+                        WhenNotDocumentHidden => !ctxt.render_options.document_hidden,
                     };
                     if run {
                         debug!("running pass {}", p.pass.name);
@@ -556,7 +557,7 @@ pub fn run_core(options: RustdocOptions) -> (clean::Crate, RenderInfo, RenderOpt
 
                 ctxt.sess().abort_if_errors();
 
-                (krate, ctxt.renderinfo.into_inner(), render_options)
+                (krate, ctxt.renderinfo.into_inner(), ctxt.render_options)
             })
         })
     })
diff --git a/src/librustdoc/html/format.rs b/src/librustdoc/html/format.rs
index e60ff37fd279a..a453a8b3dcb2a 100644
--- a/src/librustdoc/html/format.rs
+++ b/src/librustdoc/html/format.rs
@@ -468,7 +468,7 @@ impl clean::Path {
 
 pub fn href(did: DefId) -> Option<(String, ItemType, Vec<String>)> {
     let cache = cache();
-    if !did.is_local() && !cache.access_levels.is_public(did) {
+    if !did.is_local() && !cache.access_levels.is_public(did) && !cache.document_private {
         return None;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/librustdoc/html/render.rs b/src/librustdoc/html/render.rs
index 1681b73d0c257..04c4685213b2e 100644
--- a/src/librustdoc/html/render.rs
+++ b/src/librustdoc/html/render.rs
@@ -469,6 +469,7 @@ pub fn run(
         static_root_path,
         generate_search_filter,
         generate_redirect_pages,
+        document_private,
         ..
     } = options;
 
@@ -546,7 +547,7 @@ pub fn run(
     scx.ensure_dir(&dst)?;
     krate = sources::render(&dst, &mut scx, krate)?;
     let (new_crate, index, cache) =
-        Cache::from_krate(renderinfo, &extern_html_root_urls, &dst, krate);
+        Cache::from_krate(renderinfo, document_private, &extern_html_root_urls, &dst, krate);
     krate = new_crate;
     let cache = Arc::new(cache);
     let mut cx = Context {
diff --git a/src/librustdoc/html/render/cache.rs b/src/librustdoc/html/render/cache.rs
index 225940773413e..1b5c8a9378e41 100644
--- a/src/librustdoc/html/render/cache.rs
+++ b/src/librustdoc/html/render/cache.rs
@@ -91,6 +91,10 @@ crate struct Cache {
     /// The version of the crate being documented, if given from the `--crate-version` flag.
     pub crate_version: Option<String>,
 
+    /// Whether to document private items.
+    /// This is stored in `Cache` so it doesn't need to be passed through all rustdoc functions.
+    pub document_private: bool,
+
     // Private fields only used when initially crawling a crate to build a cache
     stack: Vec<String>,
     parent_stack: Vec<DefId>,
@@ -126,6 +130,7 @@ crate struct Cache {
 impl Cache {
     pub fn from_krate(
         renderinfo: RenderInfo,
+        document_private: bool,
         extern_html_root_urls: &BTreeMap<String, String>,
         dst: &Path,
         mut krate: clean::Crate,
@@ -160,6 +165,7 @@ impl Cache {
             stripped_mod: false,
             access_levels,
             crate_version: krate.version.take(),
+            document_private,
             orphan_impl_items: Vec::new(),
             orphan_trait_impls: Vec::new(),
             traits: krate.external_traits.replace(Default::default()),
diff --git a/src/librustdoc/passes/collect_intra_doc_links.rs b/src/librustdoc/passes/collect_intra_doc_links.rs
index f5b2f1bb5b178..8da74f375d9ce 100644
--- a/src/librustdoc/passes/collect_intra_doc_links.rs
+++ b/src/librustdoc/passes/collect_intra_doc_links.rs
@@ -178,6 +178,7 @@ impl<'a, 'tcx> LinkCollector<'a, 'tcx> {
             let result = cx.enter_resolver(|resolver| {
                 resolver.resolve_str_path_error(DUMMY_SP, &path_str, ns, module_id)
             });
+            debug!("{} resolved to {:?} in namespace {:?}", path_str, result, ns);
             let result = match result {
                 Ok((_, Res::Err)) => Err(ErrorKind::ResolutionFailure),
                 _ => result.map_err(|_| ErrorKind::ResolutionFailure),
@@ -202,7 +203,13 @@ impl<'a, 'tcx> LinkCollector<'a, 'tcx> {
                         }
                         return Ok((res, Some(path_str.to_owned())));
                     }
-                    _ => return Ok((res, extra_fragment.clone())),
+                    other => {
+                        debug!(
+                            "failed to resolve {} in namespace {:?} (got {:?})",
+                            path_str, ns, other
+                        );
+                        return Ok((res, extra_fragment.clone()));
+                    }
                 };
 
                 if value != (ns == ValueNS) {
@@ -555,12 +562,13 @@ impl<'a, 'tcx> DocFolder for LinkCollector<'a, 'tcx> {
             } else {
                 (parts[0].to_owned(), None)
             };
+            let resolved_self;
+            let mut path_str;
             let (res, fragment) = {
                 let mut kind = None;
-                let mut path_str = if let Some(prefix) =
-                    ["struct@", "enum@", "type@", "trait@", "union@"]
-                        .iter()
-                        .find(|p| link.starts_with(**p))
+                path_str = if let Some(prefix) = ["struct@", "enum@", "type@", "trait@", "union@"]
+                    .iter()
+                    .find(|p| link.starts_with(**p))
                 {
                     kind = Some(TypeNS);
                     link.trim_start_matches(prefix)
@@ -614,7 +622,6 @@ impl<'a, 'tcx> DocFolder for LinkCollector<'a, 'tcx> {
                 let base_node =
                     if item.is_mod() && item.attrs.inner_docs { None } else { parent_node };
 
-                let resolved_self;
                 // replace `Self` with suitable item's parent name
                 if path_str.starts_with("Self::") {
                     if let Some(ref name) = parent_name {
@@ -760,6 +767,32 @@ impl<'a, 'tcx> DocFolder for LinkCollector<'a, 'tcx> {
             if let Res::PrimTy(_) = res {
                 item.attrs.links.push((ori_link, None, fragment));
             } else {
+                debug!("intra-doc link to {} resolved to {:?}", path_str, res);
+                if let Some(local) = res.opt_def_id().and_then(|def_id| def_id.as_local()) {
+                    use rustc_hir::def_id::LOCAL_CRATE;
+
+                    let hir_id = self.cx.tcx.hir().as_local_hir_id(local);
+                    if !self.cx.tcx.privacy_access_levels(LOCAL_CRATE).is_exported(hir_id)
+                        && !self.cx.render_options.document_private
+                    {
+                        let item_name = item.name.as_deref().unwrap_or("<unknown>");
+                        let err_msg = format!(
+                            "public documentation for `{}` links to a private item",
+                            item_name
+                        );
+                        build_diagnostic(
+                            cx,
+                            &item,
+                            path_str,
+                            &dox,
+                            link_range,
+                            &err_msg,
+                            "this item is private",
+                            None,
+                        );
+                        continue;
+                    }
+                }
                 let id = register_res(cx, res);
                 item.attrs.links.push((ori_link, Some(id), fragment));
             }
diff --git a/src/test/rustdoc-ui/intra-links-private.public.stderr b/src/test/rustdoc-ui/intra-links-private.public.stderr
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..0a8dafdaf9466
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/rustdoc-ui/intra-links-private.public.stderr
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+warning: `[DontDocMe]` public documentation for `DocMe` links to a private item
+  --> $DIR/intra-links-private.rs:6:11
+   |
+LL | /// docs [DontDocMe]
+   |           ^^^^^^^^^ this item is private
+   |
+   = note: `#[warn(intra_doc_link_resolution_failure)]` on by default
+
+warning: 1 warning emitted
+
diff --git a/src/test/rustdoc-ui/intra-links-private.rs b/src/test/rustdoc-ui/intra-links-private.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..b7906aba5b1a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/rustdoc-ui/intra-links-private.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+// check-pass
+// revisions: public private
+// [private]compile-flags: --document-private-items
+#![cfg_attr(private, deny(intra_doc_resolution_failure))]
+
+/// docs [DontDocMe]
+//[public]~^ WARNING `[DontDocMe]` public documentation for `DocMe` links to a private item
+// FIXME: for [private] we should also make sure the link was actually generated
+pub struct DocMe;
+struct DontDocMe;
diff --git a/src/test/rustdoc-ui/reference-link-has-one-warning.rs b/src/test/rustdoc-ui/reference-link-has-one-warning.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..21cb7eb9040bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/rustdoc-ui/reference-link-has-one-warning.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+// ignore-test
+// check-pass
+
+/// docs [label][with#anchor#error]
+//~^ WARNING has an issue with the link anchor
+pub struct S;
diff --git a/src/test/rustdoc-ui/reference-link-has-one-warning.stderr b/src/test/rustdoc-ui/reference-link-has-one-warning.stderr
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..5bbc62b76dd04
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/rustdoc-ui/reference-link-has-one-warning.stderr
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+warning: `[with#anchor#error]` has an issue with the link anchor.
+  --> $DIR/reference-link-has-one-warning.rs:3:18
+   |
+LL | /// docs [label][with#anchor#error]
+   |                  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ only one `#` is allowed in a link
+   |
+   = note: `#[warn(intra_doc_link_resolution_failure)]` on by default
+
+warning: 1 warning emitted
+