diff --git a/commit-reach.c b/commit-reach.c
index 5df471a313..58553dff05 100644
--- a/commit-reach.c
+++ b/commit-reach.c
@@ -757,7 +757,8 @@ static int in_commit_list(const struct commit_list *want, struct commit *c)
 
 /*
  * Test whether the candidate is contained in the list.
- * Do not recurse to find out, though, but return -1 if inconclusive.
+ * Do not recurse to find out, though, but return CONTAINS_UNKNOWN if
+ * inconclusive.
  */
 static enum contains_result contains_test(struct commit *candidate,
 					  const struct commit_list *want,
@@ -814,6 +815,7 @@ static enum contains_result contains_tag_algo(struct commit *candidate,
 	if (result != CONTAINS_UNKNOWN)
 		return result;
 
+	*contains_cache_at(cache, candidate) = CONTAINS_IN_PROGRESS;
 	push_to_contains_stack(candidate, &contains_stack);
 	while (contains_stack.nr) {
 		struct contains_stack_entry *entry = &contains_stack.contains_stack[contains_stack.nr - 1];
@@ -825,8 +827,8 @@ static enum contains_result contains_tag_algo(struct commit *candidate,
 			contains_stack.nr--;
 		}
 		/*
-		 * If we just popped the stack, parents->item has been marked,
-		 * therefore contains_test will return a meaningful yes/no.
+		 * A parent may have just been popped and marked, or may still
+		 * be active when replacement refs create a cycle.
 		 */
 		else switch (contains_test(parents->item, want, cache, cutoff)) {
 		case CONTAINS_YES:
@@ -836,7 +838,11 @@ static enum contains_result contains_tag_algo(struct commit *candidate,
 		case CONTAINS_NO:
 			entry->parents = parents->next;
 			break;
+		case CONTAINS_IN_PROGRESS:
+			die(_("commit ancestry contains a cycle"));
 		case CONTAINS_UNKNOWN:
+			*contains_cache_at(cache, parents->item) =
+				CONTAINS_IN_PROGRESS;
 			push_to_contains_stack(parents->item, &contains_stack);
 			break;
 		}
diff --git a/commit-reach.h b/commit-reach.h
index 3f3a563d8a..f908d305b1 100644
--- a/commit-reach.h
+++ b/commit-reach.h
@@ -73,7 +73,8 @@ int ref_newer(const struct object_id *new_oid, const struct object_id *old_oid);
 enum contains_result {
 	CONTAINS_UNKNOWN = 0,
 	CONTAINS_NO,
-	CONTAINS_YES
+	CONTAINS_YES,
+	CONTAINS_IN_PROGRESS
 };
 
 define_commit_slab(contains_cache, enum contains_result);
diff --git a/t/t7004-tag.sh b/t/t7004-tag.sh
index d918005dd9..67309494d2 100755
--- a/t/t7004-tag.sh
+++ b/t/t7004-tag.sh
@@ -1611,6 +1611,24 @@ test_expect_success 'checking that first commit is in all tags (hash)' '
 	test_cmp expected actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'tag --contains rejects cyclic replacement histories' '
+	first=$(git rev-parse HEAD~2) &&
+	second=$(git rev-parse HEAD~) &&
+	third=$(git rev-parse HEAD) &&
+	test_when_finished "
+		git replace -d $first &&
+		git replace -d $third &&
+		git tag -d cycle-a cycle-b
+	" &&
+	git tag cycle-a "$first" &&
+	git tag cycle-b "$third" &&
+	git replace --graft "$first" "$third" "$second" &&
+	git replace --graft "$third" "$first" &&
+	test_must_fail git tag --contains="$second" --list "cycle-*" \
+		>/dev/null 2>err &&
+	test_grep "fatal: commit ancestry contains a cycle" err
+'
+
 # other ways of specifying the commit
 test_expect_success 'checking that first commit is in all tags (tag)' '
 	cat >expected <<-\EOF &&