A defective recording element detecting apparatus includes: a read image data acquiring device which acquires read image data of a test pattern recorded on a recording medium by a recording head having recording elements; a reference area setting device which sets a reference area including a part of the test pattern on a read image representing image contents of the read image data; a comparison area setting device which sets a comparison area on the read image; a correlation operation device which performs a correlation operation between the comparison area and the reference area; a distortion correction value determining device which determines a distortion correction value, from a result of the correlation operation; an image distortion correcting device which corrects image distortion of the read image using the distortion correction value; and a defective recording element determining device which identifies a defective recording element according to the corrected read image.