diff --git a/t/t1403-show-ref.sh b/t/t1403-show-ref.sh
index 6ce62f878c..17d3cc1405 100755
--- a/t/t1403-show-ref.sh
+++ b/t/t1403-show-ref.sh
@@ -7,11 +7,9 @@ export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
 test_expect_success setup '
-	test_commit A &&
-	git tag -f -a -m "annotated A" A &&
+	test_commit --annotate A &&
 	git checkout -b side &&
-	test_commit B &&
-	git tag -f -a -m "annotated B" B &&
+	test_commit --annotate B &&
 	git checkout main &&
 	test_commit C &&
 	git branch B A^0
diff --git a/t/test-lib-functions.sh b/t/test-lib-functions.sh
index d0f4f3885d..6e2332a324 100644
--- a/t/test-lib-functions.sh
+++ b/t/test-lib-functions.sh
@@ -179,6 +179,10 @@ debug () {
 #	Invoke "git commit" with --author <author>
 #   --no-tag
 #	Do not tag the resulting commit
+#   --annotate
+#	Create an annotated tag with "--annotate -m <message>". Calls
+#	test_tick between making the commit and tag, unless --notick
+#	is given.
 #
 # This will commit a file with the given contents and the given commit
 # message, and tag the resulting commit with the given tag name.
@@ -191,7 +195,7 @@ test_commit () {
 	author= &&
 	signoff= &&
 	indir= &&
-	no_tag= &&
+	tag=light &&
 	while test $# != 0
 	do
 		case "$1" in
@@ -219,7 +223,10 @@ test_commit () {
 			shift
 			;;
 		--no-tag)
-			no_tag=yes
+			tag=none
+			;;
+		--annotate)
+			tag=annotate
 			;;
 		*)
 			break
@@ -243,10 +250,20 @@ test_commit () {
 	git ${indir:+ -C "$indir"} commit \
 	    ${author:+ --author "$author"} \
 	    $signoff -m "$1" &&
-	if test -z "$no_tag"
-	then
+	case "$tag" in
+	none)
+		;;
+	light)
 		git ${indir:+ -C "$indir"} tag "${4:-$1}"
-	fi
+		;;
+	annotate)
+		if test -z "$notick"
+		then
+			test_tick
+		fi &&
+		git ${indir:+ -C "$indir"} tag -a -m "$1" "${4:-$1}"
+		;;
+	esac
 }
 
 # Call test_merge with the arguments "<message> <commit>", where <commit>