diff --git a/remote.c b/remote.c
index 06ad15627a6488f3a5e6c699828f6f721d8647ba..2d9af4023eba6f8b2fe528ccbf03569fcaa265ee 100644
--- a/remote.c
+++ b/remote.c
@@ -812,6 +812,26 @@ static struct ref *make_linked_ref(const char *name, struct ref ***tail)
 	return ret;
 }
 
+static char *guess_ref(const char *name, struct ref *peer)
+{
+	struct strbuf buf = STRBUF_INIT;
+	unsigned char sha1[20];
+
+	const char *r = resolve_ref(peer->name, sha1, 1, NULL);
+	if (!r)
+		return NULL;
+
+	if (!prefixcmp(r, "refs/heads/"))
+		strbuf_addstr(&buf, "refs/heads/");
+	else if (!prefixcmp(r, "refs/tags/"))
+		strbuf_addstr(&buf, "refs/tags/");
+	else
+		return NULL;
+
+	strbuf_addstr(&buf, name);
+	return strbuf_detach(&buf, NULL);
+}
+
 static int match_explicit(struct ref *src, struct ref *dst,
 			  struct ref ***dst_tail,
 			  struct refspec *rs,
@@ -820,6 +840,7 @@ static int match_explicit(struct ref *src, struct ref *dst,
 	struct ref *matched_src, *matched_dst;
 
 	const char *dst_value = rs->dst;
+	char *dst_guess;
 
 	if (rs->pattern)
 		return errs;
@@ -866,10 +887,15 @@ static int match_explicit(struct ref *src, struct ref *dst,
 	case 0:
 		if (!memcmp(dst_value, "refs/", 5))
 			matched_dst = make_linked_ref(dst_value, dst_tail);
+		else if((dst_guess = guess_ref(dst_value, matched_src)))
+			matched_dst = make_linked_ref(dst_guess, dst_tail);
 		else
-			error("dst refspec %s does not match any "
-			      "existing ref on the remote and does "
-			      "not start with refs/.", dst_value);
+			error("unable to push to unqualified destination: %s\n"
+			      "The destination refspec neither matches an "
+			      "existing ref on the remote nor\n"
+			      "begins with refs/, and we are unable to "
+			      "guess a prefix based on the source ref.",
+			      dst_value);
 		break;
 	default:
 		matched_dst = NULL;
diff --git a/t/t5516-fetch-push.sh b/t/t5516-fetch-push.sh
index f93a100f8732dcde2a8e52fc24ab5d54d4890b23..0a757d5b9fe660245ced7749e445eabd0369bcf0 100755
--- a/t/t5516-fetch-push.sh
+++ b/t/t5516-fetch-push.sh
@@ -273,6 +273,37 @@ test_expect_success 'push with colon-less refspec (4)' '
 
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'push head with non-existant, incomplete dest' '
+
+	mk_test &&
+	git push testrepo master:branch &&
+	check_push_result $the_commit heads/branch
+
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'push tag with non-existant, incomplete dest' '
+
+	mk_test &&
+	git tag -f v1.0 &&
+	git push testrepo v1.0:tag &&
+	check_push_result $the_commit tags/tag
+
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'push sha1 with non-existant, incomplete dest' '
+
+	mk_test &&
+	test_must_fail git push testrepo `git rev-parse master`:foo
+
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'push ref expression with non-existant, incomplete dest' '
+
+	mk_test &&
+	test_must_fail git push testrepo master^:branch
+
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'push with HEAD' '
 
 	mk_test heads/master &&
@@ -311,6 +342,15 @@ test_expect_success 'push with +HEAD' '
 
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'push HEAD with non-existant, incomplete dest' '
+
+	mk_test &&
+	git checkout master &&
+	git push testrepo HEAD:branch &&
+	check_push_result $the_commit heads/branch
+
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'push with config remote.*.push = HEAD' '
 
 	mk_test heads/local &&