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 292e50447..099159892 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
@@ -358,6 +358,33 @@ public class RefDirectoryTest extends LocalDiskRepositoryTestCase {
 		assertEquals(A, c.getObjectId());
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void testFirstExactRef_IgnoresGarbageRef() throws IOException {
+		writeLooseRef("refs/heads/A", A);
+		write(new File(diskRepo.getDirectory(), "refs/heads/bad"), "FAIL\n");
+
+		Ref a = refdir.firstExactRef("refs/heads/bad", "refs/heads/A");
+		assertEquals("refs/heads/A", a.getName());
+		assertEquals(A, a.getObjectId());
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testExactRef_IgnoresGarbageRef() throws IOException {
+		writeLooseRef("refs/heads/A", A);
+		write(new File(diskRepo.getDirectory(), "refs/heads/bad"), "FAIL\n");
+
+		Map<String, Ref> refs =
+				refdir.exactRef("refs/heads/bad", "refs/heads/A");
+
+		assertNull("no refs/heads/bad", refs.get("refs/heads/bad"));
+
+		Ref a = refs.get("refs/heads/A");
+		assertEquals("refs/heads/A", a.getName());
+		assertEquals(A, a.getObjectId());
+
+		assertEquals(1, refs.size());
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void testGetRefs_InvalidName() throws IOException {
 		writeLooseRef("refs/heads/A", A);
@@ -463,6 +490,21 @@ public class RefDirectoryTest extends LocalDiskRepositoryTestCase {
 		assertEquals(B, b.getObjectId());
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void testFirstExactRef_Mixed() throws IOException {
+		writeLooseRef("refs/heads/A", A);
+		writePackedRef("refs/tags/v1.0", v1_0);
+
+		Ref a = refdir.firstExactRef("refs/heads/A", "refs/tags/v1.0");
+		Ref one = refdir.firstExactRef("refs/tags/v1.0", "refs/heads/A");
+
+		assertEquals("refs/heads/A", a.getName());
+		assertEquals("refs/tags/v1.0", one.getName());
+
+		assertEquals(A, a.getObjectId());
+		assertEquals(v1_0, one.getObjectId());
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void testGetRefs_TagsOnly_AllLoose() throws IOException {
 		Map<String, Ref> tags;
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/RefDatabase.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/RefDatabase.java
index 1a58c5138..fd99e4d03 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/RefDatabase.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/RefDatabase.java
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 
@@ -254,6 +255,55 @@ public abstract class RefDatabase {
 		return null;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Read the specified references.
+	 * <p>
+	 * This method expects a list of unshortened reference names and returns
+	 * a map from reference names to refs.  Any named references that do not
+	 * exist will not be included in the returned map.
+	 *
+	 * @param refs
+	 *             the unabbreviated names of references to look up.
+	 * @return modifiable map describing any refs that exist among the ref
+	 *         ref names supplied. The map can be an unsorted map.
+	 * @throws IOException
+	 *             the reference space cannot be accessed.
+	 * @since 4.1
+	 */
+	public Map<String, Ref> exactRef(String... refs) throws IOException {
+		Map<String, Ref> result = new HashMap<>(refs.length);
+		for (String name : refs) {
+			Ref ref = exactRef(name);
+			if (ref != null) {
+				result.put(name, ref);
+			}
+		}
+		return result;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Find the first named reference.
+	 * <p>
+	 * This method expects a list of unshortened reference names and returns
+	 * the first that exists.
+	 *
+	 * @param refs
+	 *             the unabbreviated names of references to look up.
+	 * @return the first named reference that exists (if any); else {@code null}.
+	 * @throws IOException
+	 *             the reference space cannot be accessed.
+	 * @since 4.1
+	 */
+	public Ref firstExactRef(String... refs) throws IOException {
+		for (String name : refs) {
+			Ref ref = exactRef(name);
+			if (ref != null) {
+				return ref;
+			}
+		}
+		return null;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Get a section of the reference namespace.
 	 *