diff --git a/builtin/update-ref.c b/builtin/update-ref.c
index 6c9be05128..1993529521 100644
--- a/builtin/update-ref.c
+++ b/builtin/update-ref.c
@@ -282,26 +282,22 @@ static const char *parse_cmd_verify(struct ref_transaction *transaction,
 	char *refname;
 	unsigned char new_sha1[20];
 	unsigned char old_sha1[20];
-	int have_old;
 
 	refname = parse_refname(input, &next);
 	if (!refname)
 		die("verify: missing <ref>");
 
 	if (parse_next_sha1(input, &next, old_sha1, "verify", refname,
-			    PARSE_SHA1_OLD)) {
-		hashclr(new_sha1);
-		have_old = 0;
-	} else {
-		hashcpy(new_sha1, old_sha1);
-		have_old = 1;
-	}
+			    PARSE_SHA1_OLD))
+		hashclr(old_sha1);
+
+	hashcpy(new_sha1, old_sha1);
 
 	if (*next != line_termination)
 		die("verify %s: extra input: %s", refname, next);
 
 	if (ref_transaction_update(transaction, refname, new_sha1, old_sha1,
-				   update_flags, have_old, msg, &err))
+				   update_flags, 1, msg, &err))
 		die("%s", err.buf);
 
 	update_flags = 0;
diff --git a/t/t1400-update-ref.sh b/t/t1400-update-ref.sh
index 6a3cdd1ac6..6805b9e6bb 100755
--- a/t/t1400-update-ref.sh
+++ b/t/t1400-update-ref.sh
@@ -655,7 +655,7 @@ test_expect_success 'stdin verify fails for mistaken null value' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
-test_expect_failure 'stdin verify fails for mistaken empty value' '
+test_expect_success 'stdin verify fails for mistaken empty value' '
 	M=$(git rev-parse $m) &&
 	test_when_finished "git update-ref $m $M" &&
 	git rev-parse $m >expect &&
@@ -1020,7 +1020,7 @@ test_expect_success 'stdin -z verify fails for mistaken null value' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
-test_expect_failure 'stdin -z verify fails for mistaken empty value' '
+test_expect_success 'stdin -z verify fails for mistaken empty value' '
 	M=$(git rev-parse $m) &&
 	test_when_finished "git update-ref $m $M" &&
 	git rev-parse $m >expect &&