diff --git a/branch.c b/branch.c
index beaf11d97c..428be60b8c 100644
--- a/branch.c
+++ b/branch.c
@@ -203,8 +203,7 @@ static int check_tracking_branch(struct remote *remote, void *cb_data)
 	struct refspec query;
 	memset(&query, 0, sizeof(struct refspec));
 	query.dst = tracking_branch;
-	return !(remote_find_tracking(remote, &query) ||
-		 prefixcmp(query.src, "refs/heads/"));
+	return !remote_find_tracking(remote, &query);
 }
 
 static int validate_remote_tracking_branch(char *ref)
diff --git a/t/t3200-branch.sh b/t/t3200-branch.sh
index 4031693e71..f010303270 100755
--- a/t/t3200-branch.sh
+++ b/t/t3200-branch.sh
@@ -871,7 +871,7 @@ test_expect_success '--merged catches invalid object names' '
 	test_must_fail git branch --merged 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
 '
 
-test_expect_failure 'tracking with unexpected .fetch refspec' '
+test_expect_success 'tracking with unexpected .fetch refspec' '
 	git init a &&
 	(
 		cd a &&