diff --git a/ci/run-build-and-tests.sh b/ci/run-build-and-tests.sh
index 1d9a0a736d..6a3b43b366 100755
--- a/ci/run-build-and-tests.sh
+++ b/ci/run-build-and-tests.sh
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ linux-sha256)
 	export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_HASH=sha256
 	;;
 linux-reftable|linux-reftable-leaks|osx-reftable)
-	export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=reftable
+	export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=reftable
 	;;
 
 esac
diff --git a/t/README b/t/README
index 9a9daaf2af..42716bb14a 100644
--- a/t/README
+++ b/t/README
@@ -448,8 +448,8 @@ GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_HASH=<hash-algo> specifies which hash algorithm to
 use in the test scripts. Recognized values for <hash-algo> are "sha1"
 and "sha256".
 
-GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=<format> specifies which ref storage format to use
-in the test scripts. Recognized values for <format> are "files" and
+GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=<format> specifies which ref storage format
+to use in the test scripts. Recognized values for <format> are "files" and
 "reftable".
 
 GIT_TEST_NO_WRITE_REV_INDEX=<boolean>, when true disables the
diff --git a/t/t0600-reffiles-backend.sh b/t/t0600-reffiles-backend.sh
index bbbf6fa422..23e38a1695 100755
--- a/t/t0600-reffiles-backend.sh
+++ b/t/t0600-reffiles-backend.sh
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ test_description='Test reffiles backend'
 
 GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME=main
 export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME
-GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=files
-export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT
+GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=files
+export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT
 
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
diff --git a/t/t0601-reffiles-pack-refs.sh b/t/t0601-reffiles-pack-refs.sh
index 3c706978ef..17283f8bea 100755
--- a/t/t0601-reffiles-pack-refs.sh
+++ b/t/t0601-reffiles-pack-refs.sh
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ semantic is still the same.
 
 GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME=main
 export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME
-GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=files
-export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT
+GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=files
+export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT
 
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
diff --git a/t/t0602-reffiles-fsck.sh b/t/t0602-reffiles-fsck.sh
index 13259821a0..10781417fd 100755
--- a/t/t0602-reffiles-fsck.sh
+++ b/t/t0602-reffiles-fsck.sh
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ test_description='Test reffiles backend consistency check'
 
 GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME=main
 export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME
-GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=files
-export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT
+GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=files
+export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT
 
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
diff --git a/t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh b/t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh
index b6db54430a..065d6a69b4 100755
--- a/t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh
+++ b/t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ test_description='reftable basics'
 
 GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME=main
 export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME
-GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=reftable
-export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT
+GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=reftable
+export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT
 
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
diff --git a/t/t0612-reftable-jgit-compatibility.sh b/t/t0612-reftable-jgit-compatibility.sh
index 7df2ad5817..eddfd9a152 100755
--- a/t/t0612-reftable-jgit-compatibility.sh
+++ b/t/t0612-reftable-jgit-compatibility.sh
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ test_description='reftables are compatible with JGit'
 
 GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME=main
 export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME
-GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=reftable
-export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT
+GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=reftable
+export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT
 
 # JGit does not support the 'link' DIRC extension.
 GIT_TEST_SPLIT_INDEX=0
diff --git a/t/t0613-reftable-write-options.sh b/t/t0613-reftable-write-options.sh
index a65960d048..0b27d75fe3 100755
--- a/t/t0613-reftable-write-options.sh
+++ b/t/t0613-reftable-write-options.sh
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 
 test_description='reftable write options'
 
-GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=reftable
-export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT
+GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=reftable
+export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT
 # Disable auto-compaction for all tests as we explicitly control repacking of
 # refs.
 GIT_TEST_REFTABLE_AUTOCOMPACTION=false
diff --git a/t/t0614-reftable-fsck.sh b/t/t0614-reftable-fsck.sh
index d24b87f961..9576a82478 100755
--- a/t/t0614-reftable-fsck.sh
+++ b/t/t0614-reftable-fsck.sh
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 
 test_description='Test reftable backend consistency check'
 
-GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=reftable
-export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT
+GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=reftable
+export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT
 
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
diff --git a/t/t1463-refs-optimize.sh b/t/t1463-refs-optimize.sh
index 9afe3c1ed7..b4b9735828 100755
--- a/t/t1463-refs-optimize.sh
+++ b/t/t1463-refs-optimize.sh
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@ semantic is still the same.
 
 GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME=main
 export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME
-GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=files
-export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT
+GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=files
+export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT
 
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
diff --git a/t/test-lib-functions.sh b/t/test-lib-functions.sh
index ed9779b0f7..09a41d51ad 100644
--- a/t/test-lib-functions.sh
+++ b/t/test-lib-functions.sh
@@ -1737,7 +1737,7 @@ test_detect_hash () {
 
 # Detect the ref format in use.
 test_detect_ref_format () {
-	echo "${GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT:-files}"
+	echo "${GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT:-files}"
 }
 
 # Load common hash metadata and common placeholder object IDs for use with
diff --git a/t/test-lib.sh b/t/test-lib.sh
index 60a2179a0a..321c2ba339 100644
--- a/t/test-lib.sh
+++ b/t/test-lib.sh
@@ -575,7 +575,7 @@ export EDITOR
 GIT_TEST_BUILTIN_HASH=$("$GIT_BINARY" version --build-options | sed -ne 's/^default-hash: //p')
 GIT_DEFAULT_HASH="${GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_HASH:-$GIT_TEST_BUILTIN_HASH}"
 export GIT_DEFAULT_HASH
-GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT="${GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT:-files}"
+GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT="${GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT:-files}"
 export GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT
 
 # Tests using GIT_TRACE typically don't want <timestamp> <file>:<line> output