diff --git a/refs.c b/refs.c
index 8aa33af4e8e34014d55e696f19aa565927e2b034..a4a1a4ccfd56b714547720aacf96d8d37c5bfeb2 100644
--- a/refs.c
+++ b/refs.c
@@ -1395,17 +1395,13 @@ static struct ref_store *main_ref_store;
 static struct hashmap submodule_ref_stores;
 
 /*
- * Return the ref_store instance for the specified submodule (or the
- * main repository if submodule is NULL). If that ref_store hasn't
- * been initialized yet, return NULL.
+ * Return the ref_store instance for the specified submodule. If that
+ * ref_store hasn't been initialized yet, return NULL.
  */
-static struct ref_store *lookup_ref_store(const char *submodule)
+static struct ref_store *lookup_submodule_ref_store(const char *submodule)
 {
 	struct submodule_hash_entry *entry;
 
-	if (!submodule)
-		return main_ref_store;
-
 	if (!submodule_ref_stores.tablesize)
 		/* It's initialized on demand in register_ref_store(). */
 		return NULL;
@@ -1471,7 +1467,7 @@ struct ref_store *get_ref_store(const char *submodule)
 	if (!submodule || !*submodule) {
 		return get_main_ref_store();
 	} else {
-		refs = lookup_ref_store(submodule);
+		refs = lookup_submodule_ref_store(submodule);
 
 		if (!refs) {
 			struct strbuf submodule_sb = STRBUF_INIT;
@@ -1482,7 +1478,6 @@ struct ref_store *get_ref_store(const char *submodule)
 			strbuf_release(&submodule_sb);
 		}
 	}
-
 	return refs;
 }