diff --git a/replace_object.c b/replace_object.c
index d0b1548726e9d2362d27c6947eb61a0647d0eac2..cdcaf8cbe2f4e6c7a5b334fc2c43da6855df4654 100644
--- a/replace_object.c
+++ b/replace_object.c
@@ -97,9 +97,6 @@ const unsigned char *do_lookup_replace_object(const unsigned char *sha1)
 	int pos, depth = MAXREPLACEDEPTH;
 	const unsigned char *cur = sha1;
 
-	if (!read_replace_refs)
-		return sha1;
-
 	prepare_replace_object();
 
 	/* Try to recursively replace the object */