diff --git a/builtin/branch.c b/builtin/branch.c
index cb17bc367571a88b6e6bcac5020c1746c4385480..d8cccf725d3fab24ad585a26629373fc987bb3f8 100644 (file)
--- a/builtin/branch.c
+++ b/builtin/branch.c
@@ -530,6 +530,10 @@ static int print_ref_list(int kinds, int detached, int verbose, int abbrev, stru
if (merge_filter != NO_FILTER) {
struct commit *filter;
filter = lookup_commit_reference_gently(merge_filter_ref, 0);
+ if (!filter)
+ die("object '%s' does not point to a commit",
+ sha1_to_hex(merge_filter_ref));
+
filter->object.flags |= UNINTERESTING;
add_pending_object(&ref_list.revs,
(struct object *) filter, "");