diff --git a/refs.c b/refs.c
index fcae5dddc60506..3997da6f829579 100644
--- a/refs.c
+++ b/refs.c
@@ -263,6 +263,15 @@ static int check_or_sanitize_refname(const char *refname, int flags,
 			return -1;
 	}
 
+	if (!(flags & REFNAME_ALLOW_ONELEVEL) &&
+	    !skip_prefix(refname, "refs/", &refname)) {
+		return -1;
+	} else if (sanitized) {
+		if (sanitized->len)
+			strbuf_complete(sanitized, '/');
+		strbuf_addstr(sanitized, "refs/");
+	}
+
 	while (1) {
 		if (sanitized && sanitized->len)
 			strbuf_complete(sanitized, '/');