diff --git a/Documentation/git-check-ref-format.txt b/Documentation/git-check-ref-format.txt
index 91a3622ee4e270a11c699e310fb4d544e37845c9..8611a99120eb1c7070b64f80b39b1526225a8019 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-check-ref-format.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-check-ref-format.txt
@@ -118,8 +118,8 @@ $ git check-ref-format --branch @{-1}
 * Determine the reference name to use for a new branch:
 +
 ------------
-$ ref=$(git check-ref-format --normalize "refs/heads/$newbranch") ||
-die "we do not like '$newbranch' as a branch name."
+$ ref=$(git check-ref-format --normalize "refs/heads/$newbranch")||
+{ echo "we do not like '$newbranch' as a branch name." >&2 ; exit 1 ; }
 ------------
 
 GIT