diff --git a/builtin/am.c b/builtin/am.c
index 31fb60578f6caacfb376fe84938dda9432dcfc5a..f7a7a971fbe762a4fb691e786e86f681f2bbd7c1 100644
--- a/builtin/am.c
+++ b/builtin/am.c
@@ -1049,7 +1049,7 @@ static void am_setup(struct am_state *state, enum patch_format patch_format,
 	} else {
 		write_state_text(state, "abort-safety", "");
 		if (!state->rebasing)
-			delete_ref("ORIG_HEAD", NULL, 0);
+			delete_ref(NULL, "ORIG_HEAD", NULL, 0);
 	}
 
 	/*
@@ -2172,7 +2172,7 @@ static void am_abort(struct am_state *state)
 				has_curr_head ? &curr_head : NULL, 0,
 				UPDATE_REFS_DIE_ON_ERR);
 	else if (curr_branch)
-		delete_ref(curr_branch, NULL, REF_NODEREF);
+		delete_ref(NULL, curr_branch, NULL, REF_NODEREF);
 
 	free(curr_branch);
 	am_destroy(state);
diff --git a/builtin/branch.c b/builtin/branch.c
index 9d30f55b0b83cfc09294e2cb7cabdc9aa72e2508..8f8242e07c8e109e58f203b88f5e40d57076ac4e 100644
--- a/builtin/branch.c
+++ b/builtin/branch.c
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ static int delete_branches(int argc, const char **argv, int force, int kinds,
 			goto next;
 		}
 
-		if (delete_ref(name, is_null_sha1(sha1) ? NULL : sha1,
+		if (delete_ref(NULL, name, is_null_sha1(sha1) ? NULL : sha1,
 			       REF_NODEREF)) {
 			error(remote_branch
 			      ? _("Error deleting remote-tracking branch '%s'")
diff --git a/builtin/notes.c b/builtin/notes.c
index 5248a9bad8d4d18c8ff0f145e8049606baa8849a..4b492abd417e3520d7ab98725f359087e9fcddd7 100644
--- a/builtin/notes.c
+++ b/builtin/notes.c
@@ -681,9 +681,9 @@ static int merge_abort(struct notes_merge_options *o)
 	 * notes_merge_abort() to remove .git/NOTES_MERGE_WORKTREE.
 	 */
 
-	if (delete_ref("NOTES_MERGE_PARTIAL", NULL, 0))
+	if (delete_ref(NULL, "NOTES_MERGE_PARTIAL", NULL, 0))
 		ret += error(_("failed to delete ref NOTES_MERGE_PARTIAL"));
-	if (delete_ref("NOTES_MERGE_REF", NULL, REF_NODEREF))
+	if (delete_ref(NULL, "NOTES_MERGE_REF", NULL, REF_NODEREF))
 		ret += error(_("failed to delete ref NOTES_MERGE_REF"));
 	if (notes_merge_abort(o))
 		ret += error(_("failed to remove 'git notes merge' worktree"));
diff --git a/builtin/remote.c b/builtin/remote.c
index 5339ed6ad17bb0c83e05d3e60d654c4f0632ee50..2b415911bfbc3438c48f5ad645bf5d9cc4612943 100644
--- a/builtin/remote.c
+++ b/builtin/remote.c
@@ -691,7 +691,7 @@ static int mv(int argc, const char **argv)
 		read_ref_full(item->string, RESOLVE_REF_READING, oid.hash, &flag);
 		if (!(flag & REF_ISSYMREF))
 			continue;
-		if (delete_ref(item->string, NULL, REF_NODEREF))
+		if (delete_ref(NULL, item->string, NULL, REF_NODEREF))
 			die(_("deleting '%s' failed"), item->string);
 	}
 	for (i = 0; i < remote_branches.nr; i++) {
@@ -1248,7 +1248,7 @@ static int set_head(int argc, const char **argv)
 			head_name = xstrdup(states.heads.items[0].string);
 		free_remote_ref_states(&states);
 	} else if (opt_d && !opt_a && argc == 1) {
-		if (delete_ref(buf.buf, NULL, REF_NODEREF))
+		if (delete_ref(NULL, buf.buf, NULL, REF_NODEREF))
 			result |= error(_("Could not delete %s"), buf.buf);
 	} else
 		usage_with_options(builtin_remote_sethead_usage, options);
diff --git a/builtin/replace.c b/builtin/replace.c
index b58c714cb8935efd08c81c8ebfd8922e1704c8f4..226d0f95236f299a1506beefb5babf1cf52574f0 100644
--- a/builtin/replace.c
+++ b/builtin/replace.c
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ static int for_each_replace_name(const char **argv, each_replace_name_fn fn)
 static int delete_replace_ref(const char *name, const char *ref,
 			      const unsigned char *sha1)
 {
-	if (delete_ref(ref, sha1, 0))
+	if (delete_ref(NULL, ref, sha1, 0))
 		return 1;
 	printf("Deleted replace ref '%s'\n", name);
 	return 0;
diff --git a/builtin/reset.c b/builtin/reset.c
index 8ab915bfcb71ae5d5f4bd1bebe7fd3c8725780b2..fc3b906c47bbcbefdc35b178016c031e46c06691 100644
--- a/builtin/reset.c
+++ b/builtin/reset.c
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ static int reset_refs(const char *rev, const struct object_id *oid)
 		update_ref_oid(msg.buf, "ORIG_HEAD", orig, old_orig, 0,
 			   UPDATE_REFS_MSG_ON_ERR);
 	} else if (old_orig)
-		delete_ref("ORIG_HEAD", old_orig->hash, 0);
+		delete_ref(NULL, "ORIG_HEAD", old_orig->hash, 0);
 	set_reflog_message(&msg, "updating HEAD", rev);
 	update_ref_status = update_ref_oid(msg.buf, "HEAD", oid, orig, 0,
 				       UPDATE_REFS_MSG_ON_ERR);
diff --git a/builtin/symbolic-ref.c b/builtin/symbolic-ref.c
index 96eed944683a45c33fa5d4a05414ae56406fafca..70addef158b347488366f6c5787d326c3657adcd 100644
--- a/builtin/symbolic-ref.c
+++ b/builtin/symbolic-ref.c
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ int cmd_symbolic_ref(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 			die("Cannot delete %s, not a symbolic ref", argv[0]);
 		if (!strcmp(argv[0], "HEAD"))
 			die("deleting '%s' is not allowed", argv[0]);
-		return delete_ref(argv[0], NULL, REF_NODEREF);
+		return delete_ref(NULL, argv[0], NULL, REF_NODEREF);
 	}
 
 	switch (argc) {
diff --git a/builtin/tag.c b/builtin/tag.c
index e40c4a96763a371b104a5bf47e6d839ed93e8ef5..c23d6d4bc7d0dd65fa44ed6748209446bd0dd104 100644
--- a/builtin/tag.c
+++ b/builtin/tag.c
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ static int for_each_tag_name(const char **argv, each_tag_name_fn fn,
 static int delete_tag(const char *name, const char *ref,
 		      const unsigned char *sha1, const void *cb_data)
 {
-	if (delete_ref(ref, sha1, 0))
+	if (delete_ref(NULL, ref, sha1, 0))
 		return 1;
 	printf(_("Deleted tag '%s' (was %s)\n"), name, find_unique_abbrev(sha1, DEFAULT_ABBREV));
 	return 0;
diff --git a/builtin/update-ref.c b/builtin/update-ref.c
index 7f30d3a76f69e58ae3cdbbe05c5ebdce6c8a120d..86d006d36335a5ce896b0cd76a2dec7cc4465f50 100644
--- a/builtin/update-ref.c
+++ b/builtin/update-ref.c
@@ -433,7 +433,7 @@ int cmd_update_ref(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		 * For purposes of backwards compatibility, we treat
 		 * NULL_SHA1 as "don't care" here:
 		 */
-		return delete_ref(refname,
+		return delete_ref(NULL, refname,
 				  (oldval && !is_null_sha1(oldsha1)) ? oldsha1 : NULL,
 				  flags);
 	else
diff --git a/fast-import.c b/fast-import.c
index 64fe602f0bb62c4848798d1bdb43a7be9ab5f523..6c13472c42257a47b07058156a7070cf427a038d 100644
--- a/fast-import.c
+++ b/fast-import.c
@@ -1752,7 +1752,7 @@ static int update_branch(struct branch *b)
 
 	if (is_null_sha1(b->sha1)) {
 		if (b->delete)
-			delete_ref(b->name, NULL, 0);
+			delete_ref(NULL, b->name, NULL, 0);
 		return 0;
 	}
 	if (read_ref(b->name, old_sha1))
diff --git a/refs.c b/refs.c
index cd36b64ed93f821936fd7ffb68e60ce384119898..053d23a90df023bc43fb00b0489f161d220d904e 100644
--- a/refs.c
+++ b/refs.c
@@ -591,8 +591,8 @@ static int delete_pseudoref(const char *pseudoref, const unsigned char *old_sha1
 	return 0;
 }
 
-int delete_ref(const char *refname, const unsigned char *old_sha1,
-	       unsigned int flags)
+int delete_ref(const char *msg, const char *refname,
+	       const unsigned char *old_sha1, unsigned int flags)
 {
 	struct ref_transaction *transaction;
 	struct strbuf err = STRBUF_INIT;
@@ -603,7 +603,7 @@ int delete_ref(const char *refname, const unsigned char *old_sha1,
 	transaction = ref_transaction_begin(&err);
 	if (!transaction ||
 	    ref_transaction_delete(transaction, refname, old_sha1,
-				   flags, NULL, &err) ||
+				   flags, msg, &err) ||
 	    ref_transaction_commit(transaction, &err)) {
 		error("%s", err.buf);
 		ref_transaction_free(transaction);
diff --git a/refs.h b/refs.h
index 9fbff90e79bfc45fada65651cd01765b17376249..5880886a7c06f0f6a6f8617fbc8e5edae9977cb2 100644
--- a/refs.h
+++ b/refs.h
@@ -276,8 +276,8 @@ int reflog_exists(const char *refname);
  * exists, regardless of its old value. It is an error for old_sha1 to
  * be NULL_SHA1. flags is passed through to ref_transaction_delete().
  */
-int delete_ref(const char *refname, const unsigned char *old_sha1,
-	       unsigned int flags);
+int delete_ref(const char *msg, const char *refname,
+	       const unsigned char *old_sha1, unsigned int flags);
 
 /*
  * Delete the specified references. If there are any problems, emit
diff --git a/refs/files-backend.c b/refs/files-backend.c
index c041d4ba21a8fe70eb6d8277358e7e3f29a69bfb..299eb4d8afccde850a18e1755bc99e4e6cbf005d 100644
--- a/refs/files-backend.c
+++ b/refs/files-backend.c
@@ -2489,7 +2489,7 @@ static int files_delete_refs(struct ref_store *ref_store,
 	for (i = 0; i < refnames->nr; i++) {
 		const char *refname = refnames->items[i].string;
 
-		if (delete_ref(refname, NULL, flags))
+		if (delete_ref(NULL, refname, NULL, flags))
 			result |= error(_("could not remove reference %s"), refname);
 	}
 
@@ -2616,7 +2616,7 @@ static int files_rename_ref(struct ref_store *ref_store,
 		return error("unable to move logfile logs/%s to "TMP_RENAMED_LOG": %s",
 			oldrefname, strerror(errno));
 
-	if (delete_ref(oldrefname, orig_sha1, REF_NODEREF)) {
+	if (delete_ref(NULL, oldrefname, orig_sha1, REF_NODEREF)) {
 		error("unable to delete old %s", oldrefname);
 		goto rollback;
 	}
@@ -2630,7 +2630,7 @@ static int files_rename_ref(struct ref_store *ref_store,
 	 */
 	if (!read_ref_full(newrefname, RESOLVE_REF_READING | RESOLVE_REF_NO_RECURSE,
 			   sha1, NULL) &&
-	    delete_ref(newrefname, NULL, REF_NODEREF)) {
+	    delete_ref(NULL, newrefname, NULL, REF_NODEREF)) {
 		if (errno==EISDIR) {
 			struct strbuf path = STRBUF_INIT;
 			int result;
diff --git a/transport.c b/transport.c
index d72e0894840fc384d67339b549a9a6bce7ba03ec..269352b22396ce722408fe46f65139046f056b80 100644
--- a/transport.c
+++ b/transport.c
@@ -299,7 +299,7 @@ void transport_update_tracking_ref(struct remote *remote, struct ref *ref, int v
 		if (verbose)
 			fprintf(stderr, "updating local tracking ref '%s'\n", rs.dst);
 		if (ref->deletion) {
-			delete_ref(rs.dst, NULL, 0);
+			delete_ref(NULL, rs.dst, NULL, 0);
 		} else
 			update_ref("update by push", rs.dst,
 					ref->new_oid.hash, NULL, 0, 0);