diff --git a/packages-private/dts-test/tsx.test-d.tsx b/packages-private/dts-test/tsx.test-d.tsx
index 0cd380f0447..648c5b49027 100644
--- a/packages-private/dts-test/tsx.test-d.tsx
+++ b/packages-private/dts-test/tsx.test-d.tsx
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ expectType<JSX.Element>(<div style={false} />)
 // allow key/ref on arbitrary element
 expectType<JSX.Element>(<div key="foo" />)
 expectType<JSX.Element>(<div ref="bar" />)
+expectType<JSX.Element>(<form ref={(el: HTMLFormElement | null) => {}} />)
 
 expectType<JSX.Element>(
   <input
diff --git a/packages/runtime-core/src/vnode.ts b/packages/runtime-core/src/vnode.ts
index cd1ef948d73..750f66573cf 100644
--- a/packages/runtime-core/src/vnode.ts
+++ b/packages/runtime-core/src/vnode.ts
@@ -86,10 +86,16 @@ export type VNodeTypes =
 export type VNodeRef =
   | string
   | Ref
-  | ((
-      ref: Element | ComponentPublicInstance | null,
-      refs: Record<string, any>,
-    ) => void)
+  | {
+      /**
+       * Make function refs bivariant so callbacks can accept
+       * narrower element types (e.g. HTMLFormElement).
+       */
+      bivarianceHack(
+        ref: Element | ComponentPublicInstance | null,
+        refs: Record<string, any>,
+      ): void
+    }['bivarianceHack']
 
 export type VNodeNormalizedRefAtom = {
   /**