diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index 38d9a285e0..cb8f3cabbb 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -417,6 +417,7 @@ extern int dwim_log(const char *str, int len, unsigned char *sha1, char **ref);
 
 extern int refname_match(const char *abbrev_name, const char *full_name, const char **rules);
 extern const char *ref_rev_parse_rules[];
+extern const char *ref_fetch_rules[];
 
 extern int create_symref(const char *ref, const char *refs_heads_master, const char *logmsg);
 extern int validate_headref(const char *ref);
diff --git a/refs.c b/refs.c
index fc26a93cba..6a04a667bb 100644
--- a/refs.c
+++ b/refs.c
@@ -653,6 +653,13 @@ const char *ref_rev_parse_rules[] = {
 	NULL
 };
 
+const char *ref_fetch_rules[] = {
+	"%.*s",
+	"refs/%.*s",
+	"refs/heads/%.*s",
+	NULL
+};
+
 int refname_match(const char *abbrev_name, const char *full_name, const char **rules)
 {
 	const char **p;
diff --git a/remote.c b/remote.c
index 4085c517e4..48812a713e 100644
--- a/remote.c
+++ b/remote.c
@@ -417,25 +417,6 @@ int remote_has_url(struct remote *remote, const char *url)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-/*
- * Returns true if, under the matching rules for fetching, name is the
- * same as the given full name.
- */
-static int ref_matches_abbrev(const char *name, const char *full)
-{
-	if (!prefixcmp(name, "refs/") || !strcmp(name, "HEAD"))
-		return !strcmp(name, full);
-	if (prefixcmp(full, "refs/"))
-		return 0;
-	if (!prefixcmp(name, "heads/") ||
-	    !prefixcmp(name, "tags/") ||
-	    !prefixcmp(name, "remotes/"))
-		return !strcmp(name, full + 5);
-	if (prefixcmp(full + 5, "heads/"))
-		return 0;
-	return !strcmp(full + 11, name);
-}
-
 int remote_find_tracking(struct remote *remote, struct refspec *refspec)
 {
 	int find_src = refspec->src == NULL;
@@ -804,7 +785,7 @@ int branch_merge_matches(struct branch *branch,
 {
 	if (!branch || i < 0 || i >= branch->merge_nr)
 		return 0;
-	return ref_matches_abbrev(branch->merge[i]->src, refname);
+	return refname_match(branch->merge[i]->src, refname, ref_fetch_rules);
 }
 
 static struct ref *get_expanded_map(struct ref *remote_refs,
@@ -843,7 +824,7 @@ static struct ref *find_ref_by_name_abbrev(struct ref *refs, const char *name)
 {
 	struct ref *ref;
 	for (ref = refs; ref; ref = ref->next) {
-		if (ref_matches_abbrev(name, ref->name))
+		if (refname_match(name, ref->name, ref_fetch_rules))
 			return ref;
 	}
 	return NULL;
diff --git a/t/t5510-fetch.sh b/t/t5510-fetch.sh
index aad863db7a..20257428eb 100755
--- a/t/t5510-fetch.sh
+++ b/t/t5510-fetch.sh
@@ -95,6 +95,31 @@ test_expect_success 'fetch following tags' '
 
 '
 
+test_expect_failure 'fetch must not resolve short tag name' '
+
+	cd "$D" &&
+
+	mkdir five &&
+	cd five &&
+	git init &&
+
+	git fetch .. anno:five
+
+'
+
+test_expect_failure 'fetch must not resolve short remote name' '
+
+	cd "$D" &&
+	git-update-ref refs/remotes/six/HEAD HEAD
+
+	mkdir six &&
+	cd six &&
+	git init &&
+
+	git fetch .. six:six
+
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'create bundle 1' '
 	cd "$D" &&
 	echo >file updated again by origin &&