diff --git a/builtin/tag.c b/builtin/tag.c
index 8cff6d0b72..46a5c6a1da 100644
--- a/builtin/tag.c
+++ b/builtin/tag.c
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ static int verify_tag(const char *name, const char *ref,
 		return -1;
 
 	if (format->format)
-		pretty_print_ref(name, oid->hash, format);
+		pretty_print_ref(name, oid, format);
 
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/builtin/verify-tag.c b/builtin/verify-tag.c
index ad7b79fa5c..6fa04b751a 100644
--- a/builtin/verify-tag.c
+++ b/builtin/verify-tag.c
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ int cmd_verify_tag(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		}
 
 		if (format.format)
-			pretty_print_ref(name, oid.hash, &format);
+			pretty_print_ref(name, &oid, &format);
 	}
 	return had_error;
 }
diff --git a/ref-filter.c b/ref-filter.c
index a847838484..ac82f9f21e 100644
--- a/ref-filter.c
+++ b/ref-filter.c
@@ -1828,15 +1828,30 @@ static const struct object_id *match_points_at(struct oid_array *points_at,
 	return NULL;
 }
 
-/* Allocate space for a new ref_array_item and copy the objectname and flag to it */
+/*
+ * Allocate space for a new ref_array_item and copy the name and oid to it.
+ *
+ * Callers can then fill in other struct members at their leisure.
+ */
 static struct ref_array_item *new_ref_array_item(const char *refname,
-						 const unsigned char *objectname,
-						 int flag)
+						 const struct object_id *oid)
 {
 	struct ref_array_item *ref;
+
 	FLEX_ALLOC_STR(ref, refname, refname);
-	hashcpy(ref->objectname.hash, objectname);
-	ref->flag = flag;
+	oidcpy(&ref->objectname, oid);
+
+	return ref;
+}
+
+struct ref_array_item *ref_array_push(struct ref_array *array,
+				      const char *refname,
+				      const struct object_id *oid)
+{
+	struct ref_array_item *ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid);
+
+	ALLOC_GROW(array->items, array->nr + 1, array->alloc);
+	array->items[array->nr++] = ref;
 
 	return ref;
 }
@@ -1931,12 +1946,11 @@ static int ref_filter_handler(const char *refname, const struct object_id *oid,
 	 * to do its job and the resulting list may yet to be pruned
 	 * by maxcount logic.
 	 */
-	ref = new_ref_array_item(refname, oid->hash, flag);
+	ref = ref_array_push(ref_cbdata->array, refname, oid);
 	ref->commit = commit;
-
-	REALLOC_ARRAY(ref_cbdata->array->items, ref_cbdata->array->nr + 1);
-	ref_cbdata->array->items[ref_cbdata->array->nr++] = ref;
+	ref->flag = flag;
 	ref->kind = kind;
+
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -2169,11 +2183,11 @@ void show_ref_array_item(struct ref_array_item *info,
 	putchar('\n');
 }
 
-void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const unsigned char *sha1,
+void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const struct object_id *oid,
 		      const struct ref_format *format)
 {
 	struct ref_array_item *ref_item;
-	ref_item = new_ref_array_item(name, sha1, 0);
+	ref_item = new_ref_array_item(name, oid);
 	ref_item->kind = ref_kind_from_refname(name);
 	show_ref_array_item(ref_item, format);
 	free_array_item(ref_item);
diff --git a/ref-filter.h b/ref-filter.h
index 0d98342b34..76cf87cb6c 100644
--- a/ref-filter.h
+++ b/ref-filter.h
@@ -132,7 +132,15 @@ void setup_ref_filter_porcelain_msg(void);
  * Print a single ref, outside of any ref-filter. Note that the
  * name must be a fully qualified refname.
  */
-void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const unsigned char *sha1,
+void pretty_print_ref(const char *name, const struct object_id *oid,
 		      const struct ref_format *format);
 
+/*
+ * Push a single ref onto the array; this can be used to construct your own
+ * ref_array without using filter_refs().
+ */
+struct ref_array_item *ref_array_push(struct ref_array *array,
+				      const char *refname,
+				      const struct object_id *oid);
+
 #endif /*  REF_FILTER_H  */