1 files changed, 5 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/object-name.c b/object-name.c
index e225eb602c..ddafe7f9b1 100644
--- a/object-name.c
+++ b/object-name.c
@@ -1081,13 +1081,17 @@ static int get_oid_basic(struct repository *r, const char *str, int len,
 				 * still fill in the oid with the "old" value,
 				 * which we can use.
 				 */
-			} else {
+			} else if (!(flags & GET_OID_GENTLY)) {
 				if (flags & GET_OID_QUIETLY) {
 					exit(128);
 				}
 				die(_("log for '%.*s' only has %d entries"),
 				    len, str, co_cnt);
 			}
+			if (flags & GET_OID_GENTLY) {
+				free(real_ref);
+				return -1;
+			}
 		}
 	}