- if (!dwim_ref(name, strlen(name), sha1, &ref))
- die("no such ref: %s", name);
+ const char *refname, *colon = NULL;
+
+ colon = strchr(name, ':');
+ if (colon)
+ refname = xstrndup(name, colon - name);
+ else
+ refname = name;
+
+ if (!dwim_ref(refname, strlen(refname), sha1, &ref))
+ die("no such ref: %s", refname);
+ if (refname != name)
+ free((void *)refname);