diff --git a/Documentation/git-send-pack.txt b/Documentation/git-send-pack.txt
index 2fa01d4a3ca92ed3a3896e4df416cf8f3933c885..a2d9cb61be1598eb4568c7d03aafbd733e1acd9c 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-send-pack.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-send-pack.txt
@@ -85,7 +85,9 @@ Each pattern pair consists of the source side (before the colon)
 and the destination side (after the colon).  The ref to be
 pushed is determined by finding a match that matches the source
 side, and where it is pushed is determined by using the
-destination side.
+destination side. The rules used to match a ref are the same
+rules used by gitlink:git-rev-parse[1] to resolve a symbolic ref
+name.
 
  - It is an error if <src> does not match exactly one of the
    local refs.
diff --git a/remote.c b/remote.c
index bec2ba1adbed02af54572be924dcfbb47bf9c423..4085c517e4de40474738794ce3c5d0dc1901134d 100644
--- a/remote.c
+++ b/remote.c
@@ -519,10 +519,7 @@ static int count_refspec_match(const char *pattern,
 		char *name = refs->name;
 		int namelen = strlen(name);
 
-		if (namelen < patlen ||
-		    memcmp(name + namelen - patlen, pattern, patlen))
-			continue;
-		if (namelen != patlen && name[namelen - patlen - 1] != '/')
+		if (!refname_match(pattern, name, ref_rev_parse_rules))
 			continue;
 
 		/* A match is "weak" if it is with refs outside
diff --git a/t/t5516-fetch-push.sh b/t/t5516-fetch-push.sh
index b0ff48816e91991b26d0158fe65ebd2e70450171..fd5f284e9ae3d83a57f7ccdc74292c939bb0d352 100755
--- a/t/t5516-fetch-push.sh
+++ b/t/t5516-fetch-push.sh
@@ -145,11 +145,21 @@ test_expect_success 'push with no ambiguity (1)' '
 test_expect_success 'push with no ambiguity (2)' '
 
 	mk_test remotes/origin/master &&
-	git push testrepo master:master &&
+	git push testrepo master:origin/master &&
 	check_push_result $the_commit remotes/origin/master
 
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'push with colon-less refspec, no ambiguity' '
+
+	mk_test heads/master heads/t/master &&
+	git branch -f t/master master &&
+	git push testrepo master &&
+	check_push_result $the_commit heads/master &&
+	check_push_result $the_first_commit heads/t/master
+
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'push with weak ambiguity (1)' '
 
 	mk_test heads/master remotes/origin/master &&