diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index 189151de25..609380d935 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -801,7 +801,7 @@ struct ref {
 #define REF_HEADS	(1u << 1)
 #define REF_TAGS	(1u << 2)
 
-extern struct ref *find_ref_by_name(struct ref *list, const char *name);
+extern struct ref *find_ref_by_name(const struct ref *list, const char *name);
 
 #define CONNECT_VERBOSE       (1u << 0)
 extern struct child_process *git_connect(int fd[2], const char *url, const char *prog, int flags);
diff --git a/refs.c b/refs.c
index 6eb5f53846..b2a37e1185 100644
--- a/refs.c
+++ b/refs.c
@@ -1628,10 +1628,10 @@ int update_ref(const char *action, const char *refname,
 	return 0;
 }
 
-struct ref *find_ref_by_name(struct ref *list, const char *name)
+struct ref *find_ref_by_name(const struct ref *list, const char *name)
 {
 	for ( ; list; list = list->next)
 		if (!strcmp(list->name, name))
-			return list;
+			return (struct ref *)list;
 	return NULL;
 }