diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index 92ab7d7165..bde1d284a2 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -523,6 +523,9 @@ static struct ref *wanted_peer_refs(const struct ref *refs,
 	struct ref *head = copy_ref(find_ref_by_name(refs, "HEAD"));
 	struct ref *local_refs = head;
 	struct ref **tail = head ? &head->next : &local_refs;
+	struct refspec_item tag_refspec;
+
+	refspec_item_init(&tag_refspec, TAG_REFSPEC, 0);
 
 	if (option_single_branch) {
 		struct ref *remote_head = NULL;
@@ -545,7 +548,7 @@ static struct ref *wanted_peer_refs(const struct ref *refs,
 					      &tail, 0);
 
 			/* if --branch=tag, pull the requested tag explicitly */
-			get_fetch_map(remote_head, tag_refspec, &tail, 0);
+			get_fetch_map(remote_head, &tag_refspec, &tail, 0);
 		}
 		free_refs(remote_head);
 	} else {
@@ -555,8 +558,9 @@ static struct ref *wanted_peer_refs(const struct ref *refs,
 	}
 
 	if (!option_mirror && !option_single_branch && !option_no_tags)
-		get_fetch_map(refs, tag_refspec, &tail, 0);
+		get_fetch_map(refs, &tag_refspec, &tail, 0);
 
+	refspec_item_clear(&tag_refspec);
 	return local_refs;
 }
 
diff --git a/builtin/fetch.c b/builtin/fetch.c
index 75255dc600..06b60867f5 100644
--- a/builtin/fetch.c
+++ b/builtin/fetch.c
@@ -582,11 +582,16 @@ static struct ref *get_ref_map(struct remote *remote,
 		}
 	}
 
-	if (tags == TAGS_SET)
+	if (tags == TAGS_SET) {
+		struct refspec_item tag_refspec;
+
 		/* also fetch all tags */
-		get_fetch_map(remote_refs, tag_refspec, &tail, 0);
-	else if (tags == TAGS_DEFAULT && *autotags)
+		refspec_item_init(&tag_refspec, TAG_REFSPEC, 0);
+		get_fetch_map(remote_refs, &tag_refspec, &tail, 0);
+		refspec_item_clear(&tag_refspec);
+	} else if (tags == TAGS_DEFAULT && *autotags) {
 		find_non_local_tags(remote_refs, NULL, &ref_map, &tail);
+	}
 
 	/* Now append any refs to be updated opportunistically: */
 	*tail = orefs;
diff --git a/refspec.c b/refspec.c
index d60932f4de..1df5de6c2f 100644
--- a/refspec.c
+++ b/refspec.c
@@ -7,19 +7,6 @@
 #include "refspec.h"
 #include "strbuf.h"
 
-static struct refspec_item s_tag_refspec = {
-	.force = 0,
-	.pattern = 1,
-	.matching = 0,
-	.exact_sha1 = 0,
-	.negative = 0,
-	.src = "refs/tags/*",
-	.dst = "refs/tags/*",
-};
-
-/* See TAG_REFSPEC for the string version */
-const struct refspec_item *tag_refspec = &s_tag_refspec;
-
 /*
  * Parses the provided refspec 'refspec' and populates the refspec_item 'item'.
  * Returns 1 if successful and 0 if the refspec is invalid.
diff --git a/refspec.h b/refspec.h
index 8c0c446993..754be45cee 100644
--- a/refspec.h
+++ b/refspec.h
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 #define REFSPEC_H
 
 #define TAG_REFSPEC "refs/tags/*:refs/tags/*"
-extern const struct refspec_item *tag_refspec;
 
 /**
  * A struct refspec_item holds the parsed interpretation of a refspec.  If it