diff --git a/sha1_name.c b/sha1_name.c
index 3820f28ae757cce54a95014629ade4f7feb56efc..371a49d98d27098753016e23fa8a379ed7b72176 100644
--- a/sha1_name.c
+++ b/sha1_name.c
@@ -1055,9 +1055,13 @@ int interpret_branch_name(const char *name, struct strbuf *buf)
 int strbuf_branchname(struct strbuf *sb, const char *name)
 {
 	int len = strlen(name);
-	if (interpret_branch_name(name, sb) == len)
+	int used = interpret_branch_name(name, sb);
+
+	if (used == len)
 		return 0;
-	strbuf_add(sb, name, len);
+	if (used < 0)
+		used = 0;
+	strbuf_add(sb, name + used, len - used);
 	return len;
 }
 
diff --git a/t/t0100-previous.sh b/t/t0100-previous.sh
index 315b9b3f10cfae0186afca6f8024d73cce0a19e2..e0a69402324fed3c2fd7ca9495f5735742766108 100755
--- a/t/t0100-previous.sh
+++ b/t/t0100-previous.sh
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ test_expect_success 'merge @{-1}' '
 	test_commit B &&
 	git checkout A &&
 	test_commit C &&
+	test_commit D &&
 	git branch -f master B &&
 	git branch -f other &&
 	git checkout other &&
@@ -35,14 +36,24 @@ test_expect_success 'merge @{-1}' '
 	git cat-file commit HEAD | grep "Merge branch '\''other'\''"
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'merge @{-1} when there is not enough switches yet' '
+test_expect_success 'merge @{-1}~1' '
+	git checkout master &&
+	git reset --hard B &&
+	git checkout other &&
+	git checkout master &&
+	git merge @{-1}~1 &&
+	git cat-file commit HEAD >actual &&
+	grep "Merge branch '\''other'\''" actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'merge @{-100} before checking out that many branches yet' '
 	git reflog expire --expire=now &&
 	git checkout -f master &&
 	git reset --hard B &&
 	git branch -f other C &&
 	git checkout other &&
 	git checkout master &&
-	test_must_fail git merge @{-12}
+	test_must_fail git merge @{-100}
 '
 
 test_done