diff --git a/refs.c b/refs.c
index 6378c98295..311a6b52b1 100644
--- a/refs.c
+++ b/refs.c
@@ -784,37 +784,32 @@ static void prime_ref_dir(struct ref_dir *dir)
 			prime_ref_dir(get_ref_dir(entry));
 	}
 }
-/*
- * Return true iff refname1 and refname2 conflict with each other.
- * Two reference names conflict if one of them exactly matches the
- * leading components of the other; e.g., "foo/bar" conflicts with
- * both "foo" and with "foo/bar/baz" but not with "foo/bar" or
- * "foo/barbados".
- */
-static int names_conflict(const char *refname1, const char *refname2)
+
+static int entry_matches(struct ref_entry *entry, const char *refname)
 {
-	for (; *refname1 && *refname1 == *refname2; refname1++, refname2++)
-		;
-	return (*refname1 == '\0' && *refname2 == '/')
-		|| (*refname1 == '/' && *refname2 == '\0');
+	return refname && !strcmp(entry->name, refname);
 }
 
-struct name_conflict_cb {
-	const char *refname;
-	const char *oldrefname;
-	const char *conflicting_refname;
+struct nonmatching_ref_data {
+	const char *skip;
+	struct ref_entry *found;
 };
 
-static int name_conflict_fn(struct ref_entry *entry, void *cb_data)
+static int nonmatching_ref_fn(struct ref_entry *entry, void *vdata)
 {
-	struct name_conflict_cb *data = (struct name_conflict_cb *)cb_data;
-	if (data->oldrefname && !strcmp(data->oldrefname, entry->name))
+	struct nonmatching_ref_data *data = vdata;
+
+	if (entry_matches(entry, data->skip))
 		return 0;
-	if (names_conflict(data->refname, entry->name)) {
-		data->conflicting_refname = entry->name;
-		return 1;
-	}
-	return 0;
+
+	data->found = entry;
+	return 1;
+}
+
+static void report_refname_conflict(struct ref_entry *entry,
+				    const char *refname)
+{
+	error("'%s' exists; cannot create '%s'", entry->name, refname);
 }
 
 /*
@@ -823,21 +818,84 @@ static int name_conflict_fn(struct ref_entry *entry, void *cb_data)
  * oldrefname is non-NULL, ignore potential conflicts with oldrefname
  * (e.g., because oldrefname is scheduled for deletion in the same
  * operation).
+ *
+ * Two reference names conflict if one of them exactly matches the
+ * leading components of the other; e.g., "foo/bar" conflicts with
+ * both "foo" and with "foo/bar/baz" but not with "foo/bar" or
+ * "foo/barbados".
  */
 static int is_refname_available(const char *refname, const char *oldrefname,
 				struct ref_dir *dir)
 {
-	struct name_conflict_cb data;
-	data.refname = refname;
-	data.oldrefname = oldrefname;
-	data.conflicting_refname = NULL;
+	const char *slash;
+	size_t len;
+	int pos;
+	char *dirname;
 
-	sort_ref_dir(dir);
-	if (do_for_each_entry_in_dir(dir, 0, name_conflict_fn, &data)) {
-		error("'%s' exists; cannot create '%s'",
-		      data.conflicting_refname, refname);
+	for (slash = strchr(refname, '/'); slash; slash = strchr(slash + 1, '/')) {
+		/*
+		 * We are still at a leading dir of the refname; we are
+		 * looking for a conflict with a leaf entry.
+		 *
+		 * If we find one, we still must make sure it is
+		 * not "oldrefname".
+		 */
+		pos = search_ref_dir(dir, refname, slash - refname);
+		if (pos >= 0) {
+			struct ref_entry *entry = dir->entries[pos];
+			if (entry_matches(entry, oldrefname))
+				return 1;
+			report_refname_conflict(entry, refname);
+			return 0;
+		}
+
+
+		/*
+		 * Otherwise, we can try to continue our search with
+		 * the next component; if we come up empty, we know
+		 * there is nothing under this whole prefix.
+		 */
+		pos = search_ref_dir(dir, refname, slash + 1 - refname);
+		if (pos < 0)
+			return 1;
+
+		dir = get_ref_dir(dir->entries[pos]);
+	}
+
+	/*
+	 * We are at the leaf of our refname; we want to
+	 * make sure there are no directories which match it.
+	 */
+	len = strlen(refname);
+	dirname = xmallocz(len + 1);
+	sprintf(dirname, "%s/", refname);
+	pos = search_ref_dir(dir, dirname, len + 1);
+	free(dirname);
+
+	if (pos >= 0) {
+		/*
+		 * We found a directory named "refname". It is a
+		 * problem iff it contains any ref that is not
+		 * "oldrefname".
+		 */
+		struct ref_entry *entry = dir->entries[pos];
+		struct ref_dir *dir = get_ref_dir(entry);
+		struct nonmatching_ref_data data;
+
+		data.skip = oldrefname;
+		sort_ref_dir(dir);
+		if (!do_for_each_entry_in_dir(dir, 0, nonmatching_ref_fn, &data))
+			return 1;
+
+		report_refname_conflict(data.found, refname);
 		return 0;
 	}
+
+	/*
+	 * There is no point in searching for another leaf
+	 * node which matches it; such an entry would be the
+	 * ref we are looking for, not a conflict.
+	 */
 	return 1;
 }
 
diff --git a/t/t3210-pack-refs.sh b/t/t3210-pack-refs.sh
index 3a017bf437..aa9eb3a3e5 100755
--- a/t/t3210-pack-refs.sh
+++ b/t/t3210-pack-refs.sh
@@ -11,7 +11,9 @@ semantic is still the same.
 '
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
-echo '[core] logallrefupdates = true' >>.git/config
+test_expect_success 'enable reflogs' '
+	git config core.logallrefupdates true
+'
 
 test_expect_success \
     'prepare a trivial repository' \
@@ -158,4 +160,31 @@ test_expect_success 'pack ref directly below refs/' '
 	test_path_is_missing .git/refs/top
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'disable reflogs' '
+	git config core.logallrefupdates false &&
+	rm -rf .git/logs
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'create packed foo/bar/baz branch' '
+	git branch foo/bar/baz &&
+	git pack-refs --all --prune &&
+	test_path_is_missing .git/refs/heads/foo/bar/baz &&
+	test_path_is_missing .git/logs/refs/heads/foo/bar/baz
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'notice d/f conflict with existing directory' '
+	test_must_fail git branch foo &&
+	test_must_fail git branch foo/bar
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'existing directory reports concrete ref' '
+	test_must_fail git branch foo 2>stderr &&
+	grep refs/heads/foo/bar/baz stderr
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'notice d/f conflict with existing ref' '
+	test_must_fail git branch foo/bar/baz/extra &&
+	test_must_fail git branch foo/bar/baz/lots/of/extra/components
+'
+
 test_done