diff --git a/src/libfetchers/git.cc b/src/libfetchers/git.cc
index 004123e27ab..46b6232de09 100644
--- a/src/libfetchers/git.cc
+++ b/src/libfetchers/git.cc
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ std::optional<std::string> readHead(const Path & path)
 
     std::string_view line = output;
     line = line.substr(0, line.find("\n"));
-    if (const auto parseResult = git::parseLsRemoteLine(line)) {
+    if (const auto parseResult = git::parseLsRemoteLine(line); parseResult && parseResult->reference == "HEAD") {
         switch (parseResult->kind) {
             case git::LsRemoteRefLine::Kind::Symbolic:
                 debug("resolved HEAD ref '%s' for repo '%s'", parseResult->target, path);