diff --git a/app/models/commit_range.rb b/app/models/commit_range.rb
index 98067771b7194f9c54f89926c55416e348b31ec4..7b1164b024c9cd73dba682aff45221f7eaa88101 100644
--- a/app/models/commit_range.rb
+++ b/app/models/commit_range.rb
@@ -22,16 +22,19 @@ class CommitRange
   include Referable
 
   attr_reader :commit_from, :notation, :commit_to
+  attr_reader :ref_from, :ref_to
 
   # Optional Project model
   attr_accessor :project
 
-  # See `exclude_start?`
-  attr_reader :exclude_start
-
-  # The beginning and ending SHAs can be between 6 and 40 hex characters, and
+  # The beginning and ending refs can be named or SHAs, and
   # the range notation can be double- or triple-dot.
-  PATTERN = /\h{6,40}\.{2,3}\h{6,40}/
+  REF_PATTERN = /[0-9a-zA-Z][0-9a-zA-Z_.-]*[0-9a-zA-Z\^]/
+  PATTERN = /#{REF_PATTERN}\.{2,3}#{REF_PATTERN}/
+
+  # In text references, the beginning and ending refs can only be SHAs
+  # between 6 and 40 hex characters.
+  STRICT_PATTERN = /\h{6,40}\.{2,3}\h{6,40}/
 
   def self.reference_prefix
     '@'
@@ -45,7 +48,7 @@ class CommitRange
       #{link_reference_pattern} |
       (?:
         (?:#{Project.reference_pattern}#{reference_prefix})?
-        (?<commit_range>#{PATTERN})
+        (?<commit_range>#{STRICT_PATTERN})
       )
     }x
   end
@@ -69,12 +72,16 @@ class CommitRange
       raise ArgumentError, "invalid CommitRange string format: #{range_string}"
     end
 
-    ref_from, @notation, ref_to = range_string.split(/(\.{2,3})/, 2)
+    @ref_from, @notation, @ref_to = range_string.split(/(\.{2,3})/, 2)
 
-    @exclude_start = @notation == '..'
     if project.valid_repo?
-      @commit_from = project.commit(ref_from)
-      @commit_to   = project.commit(ref_to)
+      @commit_from = project.commit(@ref_from)
+      @commit_to   = project.commit(@ref_to)
+    end
+
+    if valid_commits?
+      @ref_from = Commit.truncate_sha(sha_from) if sha_from.start_with?(@ref_from)
+      @ref_to   = Commit.truncate_sha(sha_to)   if sha_to.start_with?(@ref_to)
     end
   end
 
@@ -89,7 +96,7 @@ class CommitRange
   alias_method :id, :to_s
 
   def to_reference(from_project = nil)
-    reference = Commit.truncate_sha(sha_from) + notation + Commit.truncate_sha(sha_to)
+    reference = ref_from + notation + ref_to
 
     if cross_project_reference?(from_project)
       reference = project.to_reference + self.class.reference_prefix + reference
@@ -111,7 +118,7 @@ class CommitRange
   end
 
   def exclude_start?
-    exclude_start
+    @notation == '..'
   end
 
   # Check if both the starting and ending commit IDs exist in a project's
diff --git a/spec/lib/gitlab/markdown/commit_range_reference_filter_spec.rb b/spec/lib/gitlab/markdown/commit_range_reference_filter_spec.rb
index 753140d60e66ff96c52b6e2707938365e987c46f..4b4c769a110c1e3a65a03027c532154d27c2d552 100644
--- a/spec/lib/gitlab/markdown/commit_range_reference_filter_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/gitlab/markdown/commit_range_reference_filter_spec.rb
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ module Gitlab::Markdown
     include FilterSpecHelper
 
     let(:project) { create(:project, :public) }
-    let(:commit1) { project.commit }
-    let(:commit2) { project.commit("HEAD~2") }
+    let(:commit1) { project.commit("HEAD~2") }
+    let(:commit2) { project.commit }
 
     let(:range)  { CommitRange.new("#{commit1.id}...#{commit2.id}", project) }
     let(:range2) { CommitRange.new("#{commit1.id}..#{commit2.id}", project) }
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ module Gitlab::Markdown
         link = doc.css('a').first
 
         expect(link).to have_attribute('data-commit-range')
-        expect(link.attr('data-commit-range')).to eq range.to_reference
+        expect(link.attr('data-commit-range')).to eq range.to_s
       end
 
       it 'supports an :only_path option' do
@@ -146,7 +146,8 @@ module Gitlab::Markdown
     context 'URL cross-project reference' do
       let(:namespace) { create(:namespace, name: 'cross-reference') }
       let(:project2)  { create(:project, :public, namespace: namespace) }
-      let(:reference) { urls.namespace_project_compare_url(project2.namespace, project2, range.to_param) }
+      let(:range)  { CommitRange.new("#{commit1.id}...master", project) }
+      let(:reference) { urls.namespace_project_compare_url(project2.namespace, project2, from: commit1.id, to: 'master') }
 
       before do
         range.project = project2
@@ -156,7 +157,7 @@ module Gitlab::Markdown
         doc = filter("See #{reference}")
 
         expect(doc.css('a').first.attr('href')).
-          to eq urls.namespace_project_compare_url(project2.namespace, project2, range.to_param)
+          to eq reference
       end
 
       it 'links with adjacent text' do