diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/file/RefDirectoryTest.java b/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/file/RefDirectoryTest.java
index d66753da0..52e181bc8 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/file/RefDirectoryTest.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/file/RefDirectoryTest.java
@@ -857,6 +857,36 @@ public class RefDirectoryTest extends LocalDiskRepositoryTestCase {
 		assertNull("mising 1 due to cycle", r);
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void testGetRef_CycleInSymbolicRef() throws IOException {
+		Ref r;
+
+		writeLooseRef("refs/1", "ref: refs/2\n");
+		writeLooseRef("refs/2", "ref: refs/3\n");
+		writeLooseRef("refs/3", "ref: refs/4\n");
+		writeLooseRef("refs/4", "ref: refs/5\n");
+		writeLooseRef("refs/5", "ref: refs/end\n");
+		writeLooseRef("refs/end", A);
+
+		r = refdir.getRef("1");
+		assertEquals("refs/1", r.getName());
+		assertEquals(A, r.getObjectId());
+		assertTrue(r.isSymbolic());
+
+		writeLooseRef("refs/5", "ref: refs/6\n");
+		writeLooseRef("refs/6", "ref: refs/end\n");
+
+		r = refdir.getRef("1");
+		assertNull("missing 1 due to cycle", r);
+
+		writeLooseRef("refs/heads/1", B);
+
+		r = refdir.getRef("1");
+		assertEquals("refs/heads/1", r.getName());
+		assertEquals(B, r.getObjectId());
+		assertFalse(r.isSymbolic());
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void testGetRefs_PackedNotPeeled_Sorted() throws IOException {
 		Map<String, Ref> all;
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/file/RefDirectory.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/file/RefDirectory.java
index 7851678a8..c8c12f5b6 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/file/RefDirectory.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/file/RefDirectory.java
@@ -294,6 +294,8 @@ public class RefDirectory extends RefDatabase {
 				ref = readRef(prefix + needle, packed);
 				if (ref != null) {
 					ref = resolve(ref, 0, null, null, packed);
+				}
+				if (ref != null) {
 					break;
 				}
 			} catch (IOException e) {