diff --git a/refs.c b/refs.c
index 2eb9c04443..e3692bd3d8 100644
--- a/refs.c
+++ b/refs.c
@@ -994,33 +994,12 @@ const char *ref_fetch_rules[] = {
 	NULL
 };
 
-static int refname_ok_at_root_level(const char *str, int len)
-{
-	if (len >= 5 && !memcmp(str, "refs/", 5))
-		return 1;
-
-	while (len--) {
-		char ch = *str++;
-
-		/*
-		 * Only accept likes of .git/HEAD, .git/MERGE_HEAD at
-		 * the root level as a ref.
-		 */
-		if (ch != '_' && (ch < 'A' || 'Z' < ch))
-			return 0;
-	}
-	return 1;
-}
-
 int refname_match(const char *abbrev_name, const char *full_name, const char **rules)
 {
 	const char **p;
 	const int abbrev_name_len = strlen(abbrev_name);
 
 	for (p = rules; *p; p++) {
-		if (p == rules &&
-		    !refname_ok_at_root_level(abbrev_name, abbrev_name_len))
-			continue;
 		if (!strcmp(full_name, mkpath(*p, abbrev_name_len, abbrev_name))) {
 			return 1;
 		}
@@ -1121,8 +1100,6 @@ int dwim_ref(const char *str, int len, unsigned char *sha1, char **ref)
 		unsigned char *this_result;
 		int flag;
 
-		if (p == ref_rev_parse_rules && !refname_ok_at_root_level(str, len))
-			continue;
 		this_result = refs_found ? sha1_from_ref : sha1;
 		mksnpath(fullref, sizeof(fullref), *p, len, str);
 		r = resolve_ref(fullref, this_result, 1, &flag);
@@ -1151,8 +1128,6 @@ int dwim_log(const char *str, int len, unsigned char *sha1, char **log)
 		char path[PATH_MAX];
 		const char *ref, *it;
 
-		if (p == ref_rev_parse_rules && !refname_ok_at_root_level(str, len))
-			continue;
 		mksnpath(path, sizeof(path), *p, len, str);
 		ref = resolve_ref(path, hash, 1, NULL);
 		if (!ref)
@@ -2070,14 +2045,12 @@ char *shorten_unambiguous_ref(const char *ref, int strict)
 	/* buffer for scanf result, at most ref must fit */
 	short_name = xstrdup(ref);
 
-	for (i = nr_rules - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
+	/* skip first rule, it will always match */
+	for (i = nr_rules - 1; i > 0 ; --i) {
 		int j;
 		int rules_to_fail = i;
 		int short_name_len;
 
-		if (!i && !refname_ok_at_root_level(ref, strlen(ref)))
-			continue;
-
 		if (1 != sscanf(ref, scanf_fmts[i], short_name))
 			continue;
 
@@ -2103,10 +2076,6 @@ char *shorten_unambiguous_ref(const char *ref, int strict)
 			if (i == j)
 				continue;
 
-			if (!j &&
-			    !refname_ok_at_root_level(short_name, short_name_len))
-				continue;
-
 			/*
 			 * the short name is ambiguous, if it resolves
 			 * (with this previous rule) to a valid ref