diff --git a/lib/api/projects.rb b/lib/api/projects.rb
index a16243aa8228d34cbb69ad0ab9789b446e4ffb0d..5e4c564c14b120bb7fc30274bea215a5af15a62a 100644
--- a/lib/api/projects.rb
+++ b/lib/api/projects.rb
@@ -230,6 +230,7 @@ module Gitlab
       #   GET /projects/:id/repository/branches/:branch
       get ":id/repository/branches/:branch" do
         @branch = user_project.repo.heads.find { |item| item.name == params[:branch] }
+        error!("Branch does not exist", 404) if @branch.nil?
         present @branch, with: Entities::RepoObject, project: user_project
       end
 
diff --git a/spec/requests/api/projects_spec.rb b/spec/requests/api/projects_spec.rb
index d932fd9e74dc001ebe6f12955ff97cdd422844a5..16fd1b9307c659e3d4b81bfcaa1359b12cf9d053 100644
--- a/spec/requests/api/projects_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/requests/api/projects_spec.rb
@@ -109,6 +109,11 @@ describe Gitlab::API do
       json_response['commit']['id'].should == '621491c677087aa243f165eab467bfdfbee00be1'
       json_response['protected'].should == false
     end
+
+    it "should return a 404 error if branch is not available" do
+      get api("/projects/#{project.id}/repository/branches/unknown", user)
+      response.status.should == 404
+    end
   end
 
   describe "PUT /projects/:id/repository/branches/:branch/protect" do