diff --git a/compiler/plugins/target/ROCM/ROCMTarget.cpp b/compiler/plugins/target/ROCM/ROCMTarget.cpp
index 2d02550..9b4705e 100644
--- a/compiler/plugins/target/ROCM/ROCMTarget.cpp
+++ b/compiler/plugins/target/ROCM/ROCMTarget.cpp
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 #include "llvm/Passes/PassBuilder.h"
 #include "llvm/Passes/StandardInstrumentations.h"
 #include "llvm/Support/CommandLine.h"
+#include "llvm/Support/FormatVariadic.h"
 #include "llvm/Support/LogicalResult.h"
 #include "llvm/Support/TargetSelect.h"
 #include "llvm/Target/TargetMachine.h"
@@ -369,6 +370,21 @@
     mpm.run(module, mam);
   }
 
+  LogicalResult
+  validateFinalizedModule(IREE::HAL::ExecutableVariantOp variantOp,
+                          llvm::Module &module) {
+    for (llvm::Function &func : module.functions()) {
+      if (func.isDeclaration() && !func.isIntrinsic() && !func.use_empty()) {
+        llvm::User *liveUser = *func.user_begin();
+        return variantOp.emitError()
+               << "found an unresolved external function '" << func.getName()
+               << "' in the final bitcode. A remaining live user is\n"
+               << llvm::formatv("{0}", *liveUser);
+      }
+    }
+    return success();
+  }
+
   LogicalResult serializeExecutable(const SerializationOptions &serOptions,
                                     IREE::HAL::ExecutableVariantOp variantOp,
                                     OpBuilder &executableBuilder) override {
@@ -579,6 +595,10 @@
                          ".optimized.ll", *llvmModule);
       }
 
+      if (failed(validateFinalizedModule(variantOp, *llvmModule))) {
+        return failure();
+      }
+
       // Dump the assembly output.
       if (!serOptions.dumpIntermediatesPath.empty()) {
         auto moduleCopy = llvm::CloneModule(*llvmModule);
diff --git a/compiler/plugins/target/ROCM/test/CMakeLists.txt b/compiler/plugins/target/ROCM/test/CMakeLists.txt
index 7c457c5..df185a0 100644
--- a/compiler/plugins/target/ROCM/test/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/compiler/plugins/target/ROCM/test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
   NAME
     lit
   SRCS
+    "external_function_validation.mlir"
     "smoketest.mlir"
     "target_device_features.mlir"
   TOOLS
diff --git a/compiler/plugins/target/ROCM/test/external_function_validation.mlir b/compiler/plugins/target/ROCM/test/external_function_validation.mlir
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dcebcce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compiler/plugins/target/ROCM/test/external_function_validation.mlir
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+// RUN: iree-opt --pass-pipeline='builtin.module(hal.executable(iree-hal-serialize-target-executables{target=rocm}))' \
+// RUN:   --verify-diagnostics %s -o -
+
+// The final bitcode validation should error out on any external functions that
+// remain in the final bitcode (post device bitcode linking).
+
+#executable_target_rocm_hsaco_fb = #hal.executable.target<"rocm", "rocm-hsaco-fb",
+  {iree.gpu.target = #iree_gpu.target<arch = "gfx942", features = "",
+                                      wgp = <compute = fp16, storage =  b16,
+                                      subgroup =  none, dot =  none, mma = [],
+                                      subgroup_size_choices = [64],
+                                      max_workgroup_sizes = [1024, 1024, 1024],
+                                      max_thread_count_per_workgroup = 1024,
+                                      max_workgroup_memory_bytes = 65536,
+                                      max_workgroup_counts = [2147483647, 2147483647, 2147483647]>>,
+   ukernels = "none"}>
+#pipeline_layout = #hal.pipeline.layout<bindings = [#hal.pipeline.binding<storage_buffer, Indirect>],
+                                        flags = Indirect>
+builtin.module {
+  hal.executable public @test {
+    // expected-error @+2 {{found an unresolved external function 'external_func' in the final bitcode}}
+    // expected-error @+1 {{failed to serialize executable for target backend rocm}}
+    hal.executable.variant public @rocm_hsaco_fb target(#executable_target_rocm_hsaco_fb) {
+      hal.executable.export public @test ordinal(0) layout(#pipeline_layout)
+        attributes {subgroup_size = 64 : index, workgroup_size = [128 : index, 2 : index, 1 : index]} {
+      ^bb0(%arg0: !hal.device):
+        %c128 = arith.constant 128 : index
+        %c2 = arith.constant 2 : index
+        %c1 = arith.constant 1 : index
+        hal.return %c128, %c2, %c1 : index, index, index
+      }
+      builtin.module {
+        llvm.func @external_func() attributes {sym_visibility = "private"}
+        llvm.func @test() {
+          llvm.call @external_func() : () -> ()
+          llvm.return
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}