diff --git a/Documentation/fetch-options.txt b/Documentation/fetch-options.txt
index 9dc7ac8dbd..b01372e4b3 100644
--- a/Documentation/fetch-options.txt
+++ b/Documentation/fetch-options.txt
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 	Deepen or shorten the history of a shallow repository to
 	include all reachable commits after <date>.
 
---shallow-exclude=<revision>::
+--shallow-exclude=<ref>::
 	Deepen or shorten the history of a shallow repository to
 	exclude commits reachable from a specified remote branch or tag.
 	This option can be specified multiple times.
diff --git a/Documentation/git-clone.txt b/Documentation/git-clone.txt
index 116ad64820..7acb4cb176 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-clone.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-clone.txt
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ corresponding `--mirror` and `--no-tags` options instead.
 `--shallow-since=<date>`::
 	Create a shallow clone with a history after the specified time.
 
-`--shallow-exclude=<revision>`::
+`--shallow-exclude=<ref>`::
 	Create a shallow clone with a history, excluding commits
 	reachable from a specified remote branch or tag.  This option
 	can be specified multiple times.
diff --git a/Documentation/git-fetch-pack.txt b/Documentation/git-fetch-pack.txt
index b3467664d3..b5223576a7 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-fetch-pack.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-fetch-pack.txt
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ be in a separate packet, and the list must end with a flush packet.
 	Deepen or shorten the history of a shallow repository to
 	include all reachable commits after <date>.
 
---shallow-exclude=<revision>::
+--shallow-exclude=<ref>::
 	Deepen or shorten the history of a shallow repository to
 	exclude commits reachable from a specified remote branch or tag.
 	This option can be specified multiple times.
diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index 59fcb317a6..c0013c75cd 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -147,8 +147,8 @@ static struct option builtin_clone_options[] = {
 		    N_("create a shallow clone of that depth")),
 	OPT_STRING(0, "shallow-since", &option_since, N_("time"),
 		    N_("create a shallow clone since a specific time")),
-	OPT_STRING_LIST(0, "shallow-exclude", &option_not, N_("revision"),
-			N_("deepen history of shallow clone, excluding rev")),
+	OPT_STRING_LIST(0, "shallow-exclude", &option_not, N_("ref"),
+			N_("deepen history of shallow clone, excluding ref")),
 	OPT_BOOL(0, "single-branch", &option_single_branch,
 		    N_("clone only one branch, HEAD or --branch")),
 	OPT_BOOL(0, "no-tags", &option_no_tags,
diff --git a/builtin/fetch.c b/builtin/fetch.c
index d9027e4dc9..18eff4e5fa 100644
--- a/builtin/fetch.c
+++ b/builtin/fetch.c
@@ -2216,8 +2216,8 @@ int cmd_fetch(int argc,
 			   N_("deepen history of shallow clone")),
 		OPT_STRING(0, "shallow-since", &deepen_since, N_("time"),
 			   N_("deepen history of shallow repository based on time")),
-		OPT_STRING_LIST(0, "shallow-exclude", &deepen_not, N_("revision"),
-				N_("deepen history of shallow clone, excluding rev")),
+		OPT_STRING_LIST(0, "shallow-exclude", &deepen_not, N_("ref"),
+				N_("deepen history of shallow clone, excluding ref")),
 		OPT_INTEGER(0, "deepen", &deepen_relative,
 			    N_("deepen history of shallow clone")),
 		OPT_SET_INT_F(0, "unshallow", &unshallow,
diff --git a/builtin/pull.c b/builtin/pull.c
index 388ef3d130..edc56907aa 100644
--- a/builtin/pull.c
+++ b/builtin/pull.c
@@ -218,8 +218,8 @@ static struct option pull_options[] = {
 	OPT_PASSTHRU_ARGV(0, "shallow-since", &opt_fetch, N_("time"),
 		N_("deepen history of shallow repository based on time"),
 		0),
-	OPT_PASSTHRU_ARGV(0, "shallow-exclude", &opt_fetch, N_("revision"),
-		N_("deepen history of shallow clone, excluding rev"),
+	OPT_PASSTHRU_ARGV(0, "shallow-exclude", &opt_fetch, N_("ref"),
+		N_("deepen history of shallow clone, excluding ref"),
 		0),
 	OPT_PASSTHRU_ARGV(0, "deepen", &opt_fetch, N_("n"),
 		N_("deepen history of shallow clone"),
diff --git a/t/t5500-fetch-pack.sh b/t/t5500-fetch-pack.sh
index 8da8e7fe42..6552da78d1 100755
--- a/t/t5500-fetch-pack.sh
+++ b/t/t5500-fetch-pack.sh
@@ -926,6 +926,13 @@ test_expect_success 'fetch exclude tag one' '
 	test_cmp expected actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'fetch exclude tag one as revision' '
+	test_when_finished rm -f rev err &&
+	git -C shallow-exclude rev-parse one >rev &&
+	test_must_fail git -C shallow12 fetch --shallow-exclude $(cat rev) origin 2>err &&
+	grep "deepen-not is not a ref:" err
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'fetching deepen' '
 	test_create_repo shallow-deepen &&
 	(
diff --git a/upload-pack.c b/upload-pack.c
index b4a59c3518..43006c0614 100644
--- a/upload-pack.c
+++ b/upload-pack.c
@@ -1026,10 +1026,14 @@ static int process_deepen_not(const char *line, struct oidset *deepen_not, int *
 {
 	const char *arg;
 	if (skip_prefix(line, "deepen-not ", &arg)) {
+		int cnt;
 		char *ref = NULL;
 		struct object_id oid;
-		if (expand_ref(the_repository, arg, strlen(arg), &oid, &ref) != 1)
+		cnt = expand_ref(the_repository, arg, strlen(arg), &oid, &ref);
+		if (cnt > 1)
 			die("git upload-pack: ambiguous deepen-not: %s", line);
+		if (cnt < 1)
+			die("git upload-pack: deepen-not is not a ref: %s", line);
 		oidset_insert(deepen_not, &oid);
 		free(ref);
 		*deepen_rev_list = 1;