diff --git a/Documentation/git-reflog.txt b/Documentation/git-reflog.txt
index 70791b9fd8..5e7908e4f7 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-reflog.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-reflog.txt
@@ -17,85 +17,113 @@ The command takes various subcommands, and different options
 depending on the subcommand:
 
 [verse]
-'git reflog expire' [--dry-run] [--stale-fix] [--verbose]
-	[--expire=<time>] [--expire-unreachable=<time>] [--all] <refs>...
-'git reflog delete' ref@\{specifier\}...
 'git reflog' ['show'] [log-options] [<ref>]
+'git reflog expire' [--expire=<time>] [--expire-unreachable=<time>]
+	[--rewrite] [--updateref] [--stale-fix]
+	[--dry-run] [--verbose] [--all | <refs>...]
+'git reflog delete' [--rewrite] [--updateref]
+	[--dry-run] [--verbose] ref@\{specifier\}...
 
-Reflog is a mechanism to record when the tip of branches are
-updated.  This command is to manage the information recorded in it.
+Reference logs, or "reflogs", record when the tips of branches and
+other references were updated in the local repository. Reflogs are
+useful in various Git commands, to specify the old value of a
+reference. For example, `HEAD@{2}` means "where HEAD used to be two
+moves ago", `master@{one.week.ago}` means "where master used to point
+to one week ago in this local repository", and so on. See
+linkgit:gitrevisions[7] for more details.
 
-The subcommand "expire" is used to prune older reflog entries.
-Entries older than `expire` time, or entries older than
-`expire-unreachable` time and not reachable from the current
-tip, are removed from the reflog.  This is typically not used
-directly by the end users -- instead, see linkgit:git-gc[1].
+This command manages the information recorded in the reflogs.
 
-The subcommand "show" (which is also the default, in the absence of any
-subcommands) will take all the normal log options, and show the log of
-the reference provided in the command-line (or `HEAD`, by default).
-The reflog will cover all recent actions (HEAD reflog records branch switching
-as well).  It is an alias for `git log -g --abbrev-commit --pretty=oneline`;
-see linkgit:git-log[1].
+The "show" subcommand (which is also the default, in the absence of
+any subcommands) shows the log of the reference provided in the
+command-line (or `HEAD`, by default). The reflog covers all recent
+actions, and in addition the `HEAD` reflog records branch switching.
+`git reflog show` is an alias for `git log -g --abbrev-commit
+--pretty=oneline`; see linkgit:git-log[1] for more information.
 
-The reflog is useful in various Git commands, to specify the old value
-of a reference. For example, `HEAD@{2}` means "where HEAD used to be
-two moves ago", `master@{one.week.ago}` means "where master used to
-point to one week ago", and so on. See linkgit:gitrevisions[7] for
-more details.
+The "expire" subcommand prunes older reflog entries. Entries older
+than `expire` time, or entries older than `expire-unreachable` time
+and not reachable from the current tip, are removed from the reflog.
+This is typically not used directly by end users -- instead, see
+linkgit:git-gc[1].
 
-To delete single entries from the reflog, use the subcommand "delete"
-and specify the _exact_ entry (e.g. "`git reflog delete master@{2}`").
+The "delete" subcommand deletes single entries from the reflog. Its
+argument must be an _exact_ entry (e.g. "`git reflog delete
+master@{2}`"). This subcommand is also typically not used directly by
+end users.
 
 
 OPTIONS
 -------
 
---stale-fix::
-	This revamps the logic -- the definition of "broken commit"
-	becomes: a commit that is not reachable from any of the refs and
-	there is a missing object among the commit, tree, or blob
-	objects reachable from it that is not reachable from any of the
-	refs.
-+
-This computation involves traversing all the reachable objects, i.e. it
-has the same cost as 'git prune'.  Fortunately, once this is run, we
-should not have to ever worry about missing objects, because the current
-prune and pack-objects know about reflogs and protect objects referred by
-them.
+Options for `show`
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
---expire=<time>::
-	Entries older than this time are pruned.  Without the
-	option it is taken from configuration `gc.reflogExpire`,
-	which in turn defaults to 90 days.  --expire=all prunes
-	entries regardless of their age; --expire=never turns off
-	pruning of reachable entries (but see --expire-unreachable).
+`git reflog show` accepts any of the options accepted by `git log`.
 
---expire-unreachable=<time>::
-	Entries older than this time and not reachable from
-	the current tip of the branch are pruned.  Without the
-	option it is taken from configuration
-	`gc.reflogExpireUnreachable`, which in turn defaults to
-	30 days.  --expire-unreachable=all prunes unreachable
-	entries regardless of their age; --expire-unreachable=never
-	turns off early pruning of unreachable entries (but see
-	--expire).
+
+Options for `expire`
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 --all::
-	Instead of listing <refs> explicitly, prune all refs.
+	Process the reflogs of all references.
+
+--expire=<time>::
+	Prune entries older than the specified time. If this option is
+	not specified, the expiration time is taken from the
+	configuration setting `gc.reflogExpire`, which in turn
+	defaults to 90 days. `--expire=all` prunes entries regardless
+	of their age; `--expire=never` turns off pruning of reachable
+	entries (but see `--expire-unreachable`).
+
+--expire-unreachable=<time>::
+	Prune entries older than `<time>` that are not reachable from
+	the current tip of the branch. If this option is not
+	specified, the expiration time is taken from the configuration
+	setting `gc.reflogExpireUnreachable`, which in turn defaults
+	to 30 days. `--expire-unreachable=all` prunes unreachable
+	entries regardless of their age; `--expire-unreachable=never`
+	turns off early pruning of unreachable entries (but see
+	`--expire`).
 
 --updateref::
-	Update the ref with the sha1 of the top reflog entry (i.e.
-	<ref>@\{0\}) after expiring or deleting.
+	Update the reference to the value of the top reflog entry (i.e.
+	<ref>@\{0\}) if the previous top entry was pruned.  (This
+	option is ignored for symbolic references.)
 
 --rewrite::
-	While expiring or deleting, adjust each reflog entry to ensure
-	that the `old` sha1 field points to the `new` sha1 field of the
-	previous entry.
+	If a reflog entry's predecessor is pruned, adjust its "old"
+	SHA-1 to be equal to the "new" SHA-1 field of the entry that
+	now precedes it.
+
+--stale-fix::
+	Prune any reflog entries that point to "broken commits". A
+	broken commit is a commit that is not reachable from any of
+	the reference tips and that refers, directly or indirectly, to
+	a missing commit, tree, or blob object.
++
+This computation involves traversing all the reachable objects, i.e. it
+has the same cost as 'git prune'.  It is primarily intended to fix
+corruption caused by garbage collecting using older versions of Git,
+which didn't protect objects referred to by reflogs.
+
+-n::
+--dry-run::
+	Do not actually prune any entries; just show what would have
+	been pruned.
 
 --verbose::
 	Print extra information on screen.
 
+
+Options for `delete`
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+`git reflog delete` accepts options `--updateref`, `--rewrite`, `-n`,
+`--dry-run`, and `--verbose`, with the same meanings as when they are
+used with `expire`.
+
+
 GIT
 ---
 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite
diff --git a/builtin/reflog.c b/builtin/reflog.c
index 49c64f96d8..8182b648b9 100644
--- a/builtin/reflog.c
+++ b/builtin/reflog.c
@@ -8,14 +8,11 @@
 #include "revision.h"
 #include "reachable.h"
 
-/*
- * reflog expire
- */
-
+/* NEEDSWORK: switch to using parse_options */
 static const char reflog_expire_usage[] =
-"git reflog expire [--verbose] [--dry-run] [--stale-fix] [--expire=<time>] [--expire-unreachable=<time>] [--all] <refs>...";
+"git reflog expire [--expire=<time>] [--expire-unreachable=<time>] [--rewrite] [--updateref] [--stale-fix] [--dry-run | -n] [--verbose] [--all] <refs>...";
 static const char reflog_delete_usage[] =
-"git reflog delete [--verbose] [--dry-run] [--rewrite] [--updateref] <refs>...";
+"git reflog delete [--rewrite] [--updateref] [--dry-run | -n] [--verbose] <refs>...";
 
 static unsigned long default_reflog_expire;
 static unsigned long default_reflog_expire_unreachable;
diff --git a/refs.c b/refs.c
index 8d46b08055..e23542b386 100644
--- a/refs.c
+++ b/refs.c
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ struct ref_lock {
 	struct lock_file *lk;
 	unsigned char old_sha1[20];
 	int lock_fd;
-	int force_write;
 };
 
 /*
@@ -2277,7 +2276,6 @@ static struct ref_lock *lock_ref_sha1_basic(const char *refname,
 	int type, lflags;
 	int mustexist = (old_sha1 && !is_null_sha1(old_sha1));
 	int resolve_flags = 0;
-	int missing = 0;
 	int attempts_remaining = 3;
 
 	lock = xcalloc(1, sizeof(struct ref_lock));
@@ -2316,13 +2314,13 @@ static struct ref_lock *lock_ref_sha1_basic(const char *refname,
 			orig_refname, strerror(errno));
 		goto error_return;
 	}
-	missing = is_null_sha1(lock->old_sha1);
-	/* When the ref did not exist and we are creating it,
-	 * make sure there is no existing ref that is packed
-	 * whose name begins with our refname, nor a ref whose
-	 * name is a proper prefix of our refname.
+	/*
+	 * If the ref did not exist and we are creating it, make sure
+	 * there is no existing packed ref whose name begins with our
+	 * refname, nor a packed ref whose name is a proper prefix of
+	 * our refname.
 	 */
-	if (missing &&
+	if (is_null_sha1(lock->old_sha1) &&
 	     !is_refname_available(refname, skip, get_packed_refs(&ref_cache))) {
 		last_errno = ENOTDIR;
 		goto error_return;
@@ -2338,10 +2336,6 @@ static struct ref_lock *lock_ref_sha1_basic(const char *refname,
 	lock->ref_name = xstrdup(refname);
 	lock->orig_ref_name = xstrdup(orig_refname);
 	ref_file = git_path("%s", refname);
-	if (missing)
-		lock->force_write = 1;
-	if ((flags & REF_NODEREF) && (type & REF_ISSYMREF))
-		lock->force_write = 1;
 
  retry:
 	switch (safe_create_leading_directories(ref_file)) {
@@ -2897,7 +2891,6 @@ int rename_ref(const char *oldrefname, const char *newrefname, const char *logms
 		error("unable to lock %s for update", newrefname);
 		goto rollback;
 	}
-	lock->force_write = 1;
 	hashcpy(lock->old_sha1, orig_sha1);
 	if (write_ref_sha1(lock, orig_sha1, logmsg)) {
 		error("unable to write current sha1 into %s", newrefname);
@@ -2913,7 +2906,6 @@ int rename_ref(const char *oldrefname, const char *newrefname, const char *logms
 		goto rollbacklog;
 	}
 
-	lock->force_write = 1;
 	flag = log_all_ref_updates;
 	log_all_ref_updates = 0;
 	if (write_ref_sha1(lock, orig_sha1, NULL))
@@ -3099,14 +3091,6 @@ static int write_ref_sha1(struct ref_lock *lock,
 	static char term = '\n';
 	struct object *o;
 
-	if (!lock) {
-		errno = EINVAL;
-		return -1;
-	}
-	if (!lock->force_write && !hashcmp(lock->old_sha1, sha1)) {
-		unlock_ref(lock);
-		return 0;
-	}
 	o = parse_object(sha1);
 	if (!o) {
 		error("Trying to write ref %s with nonexistent object %s",
@@ -3851,15 +3835,28 @@ int ref_transaction_commit(struct ref_transaction *transaction,
 		int flags = update->flags;
 
 		if ((flags & REF_HAVE_NEW) && !is_null_sha1(update->new_sha1)) {
-			if (write_ref_sha1(update->lock, update->new_sha1,
-					   update->msg)) {
+			int overwriting_symref = ((update->type & REF_ISSYMREF) &&
+						  (update->flags & REF_NODEREF));
+
+			if (!overwriting_symref
+			    && !hashcmp(update->lock->old_sha1, update->new_sha1)) {
+				/*
+				 * The reference already has the desired
+				 * value, so we don't need to write it.
+				 */
+				unlock_ref(update->lock);
+				update->lock = NULL;
+			} else if (write_ref_sha1(update->lock, update->new_sha1,
+						  update->msg)) {
 				update->lock = NULL; /* freed by write_ref_sha1 */
 				strbuf_addf(err, "Cannot update the ref '%s'.",
 					    update->refname);
 				ret = TRANSACTION_GENERIC_ERROR;
 				goto cleanup;
+			} else {
+				/* freed by write_ref_sha1(): */
+				update->lock = NULL;
 			}
-			update->lock = NULL; /* freed by write_ref_sha1 */
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -4083,6 +4080,7 @@ int reflog_expire(const char *refname, const unsigned char *sha1,
 	struct ref_lock *lock;
 	char *log_file;
 	int status = 0;
+	int type;
 
 	memset(&cb, 0, sizeof(cb));
 	cb.flags = flags;
@@ -4094,7 +4092,7 @@ int reflog_expire(const char *refname, const unsigned char *sha1,
 	 * reference itself, plus we might need to update the
 	 * reference if --updateref was specified:
 	 */
-	lock = lock_ref_sha1_basic(refname, sha1, NULL, 0, NULL);
+	lock = lock_ref_sha1_basic(refname, sha1, NULL, 0, &type);
 	if (!lock)
 		return error("cannot lock ref '%s'", refname);
 	if (!reflog_exists(refname)) {
@@ -4131,10 +4129,21 @@ int reflog_expire(const char *refname, const unsigned char *sha1,
 	(*cleanup_fn)(cb.policy_cb);
 
 	if (!(flags & EXPIRE_REFLOGS_DRY_RUN)) {
+		/*
+		 * It doesn't make sense to adjust a reference pointed
+		 * to by a symbolic ref based on expiring entries in
+		 * the symbolic reference's reflog. Nor can we update
+		 * a reference if there are no remaining reflog
+		 * entries.
+		 */
+		int update = (flags & EXPIRE_REFLOGS_UPDATE_REF) &&
+			!(type & REF_ISSYMREF) &&
+			!is_null_sha1(cb.last_kept_sha1);
+
 		if (close_lock_file(&reflog_lock)) {
 			status |= error("couldn't write %s: %s", log_file,
 					strerror(errno));
-		} else if ((flags & EXPIRE_REFLOGS_UPDATE_REF) &&
+		} else if (update &&
 			(write_in_full(lock->lock_fd,
 				sha1_to_hex(cb.last_kept_sha1), 40) != 40 ||
 			 write_str_in_full(lock->lock_fd, "\n") != 1 ||
@@ -4145,7 +4154,7 @@ int reflog_expire(const char *refname, const unsigned char *sha1,
 		} else if (commit_lock_file(&reflog_lock)) {
 			status |= error("unable to commit reflog '%s' (%s)",
 					log_file, strerror(errno));
-		} else if ((flags & EXPIRE_REFLOGS_UPDATE_REF) && commit_ref(lock)) {
+		} else if (update && commit_ref(lock)) {
 			status |= error("couldn't set %s", lock->ref_name);
 		}
 	}