Angular distributions for the 9Be(8Li,9Be)8Li elastic-transfer reaction have been measured with a 27-MeV 8Li radioactive nuclear beam. Spectroscopic factors for the 〈9Be|8Li+p〉 bound system were obtained from the comparison between the experimental differential cross sections and finite-range distorted-wave Born approximation calculations made with the code FRESCO. The spectroscopic factors so obtained are compared with shell-model calculations and other experimental values. Using the present value for the spectroscopic factors, cross sections and reaction rates for the 8Li(p,γ)9Be direct proton-capture reaction of astrophysical interest were calculated in the framework of the potential model.