Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. The method includes communicating control signaling scheduling a sidelink transmission via a physical sidelink channel, receiving, by a first user equipment (UE), the sidelink transmission including one or more reference signals from a second UE via the physical sidelink channel based on the control signaling, and monitoring the physical sidelink channel based on time synchronization, frequency synchronization, or both, determined using the one or more reference signals.