diff --git a/git-fetch.sh b/git-fetch.sh
index 0346d4a45c..c0eb96752e 100755
--- a/git-fetch.sh
+++ b/git-fetch.sh
@@ -94,6 +94,9 @@ append_fetch_head () {
     # remote-nick is the URL given on the command line (or a shorthand)
     # remote-name is the $GIT_DIR relative refs/ path we computed
     # for this refspec.
+
+    # the $note_ variable will be fed to git-fmt-merge-msg for further
+    # processing.
     case "$remote_name_" in
     HEAD)
 	note_= ;;
@@ -103,6 +106,9 @@ append_fetch_head () {
     refs/tags/*)
 	note_="$(expr "$remote_name_" : 'refs/tags/\(.*\)')"
 	note_="tag '$note_' of " ;;
+    refs/remotes/*)
+	note_="$(expr "$remote_name_" : 'refs/remotes/\(.*\)')"
+	note_="remote branch '$note_' of " ;;
     *)
 	note_="$remote_name of " ;;
     esac
@@ -147,10 +153,10 @@ fast_forward_local () {
 	else
 		echo >&2 "* $1: storing $3"
 	fi
-	git-update-ref "$1" "$2" 
+	git-update-ref "$1" "$2"
 	;;
 
-    refs/heads/*)
+    refs/heads/* | refs/remotes/*)
 	# $1 is the ref being updated.
 	# $2 is the new value for the ref.
 	local=$(git-rev-parse --verify "$1^0" 2>/dev/null)
diff --git a/git-fmt-merge-msg.perl b/git-fmt-merge-msg.perl
index afe80e6321..5986e5414a 100755
--- a/git-fmt-merge-msg.perl
+++ b/git-fmt-merge-msg.perl
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ while (<>) {
 		$src{$src} = {
 			BRANCH => [],
 			TAG => [],
+			R_BRANCH => [],
 			GENERIC => [],
 			# &1 == has HEAD.
 			# &2 == has others.
@@ -91,6 +92,11 @@ while (<>) {
 		push @{$src{$src}{TAG}}, $1;
 		$src{$src}{HEAD_STATUS} |= 2;
 	}
+	elsif (/^remote branch (.*)$/) {
+		$origin = $1;
+		push @{$src{$src}{R_BRANCH}}, $1;
+		$src{$src}{HEAD_STATUS} |= 2;
+	}
 	elsif (/^HEAD$/) {
 		$origin = $src;
 		$src{$src}{HEAD_STATUS} |= 1;
@@ -123,6 +129,8 @@ for my $src (@src) {
 	}
 	push @this, andjoin("branch ", "branches ",
 			   $src{$src}{BRANCH});
+	push @this, andjoin("remote branch ", "remote branches ",
+			   $src{$src}{R_BRANCH});
 	push @this, andjoin("tag ", "tags ",
 			   $src{$src}{TAG});
 	push @this, andjoin("commit ", "commits ",
diff --git a/git-parse-remote.sh b/git-parse-remote.sh
index 5f158c613f..63f22818e6 100755
--- a/git-parse-remote.sh
+++ b/git-parse-remote.sh
@@ -86,14 +86,14 @@ canon_refs_list_for_fetch () {
 		local=$(expr "$ref" : '[^:]*:\(.*\)')
 		case "$remote" in
 		'') remote=HEAD ;;
-		refs/heads/* | refs/tags/*) ;;
-		heads/* | tags/* ) remote="refs/$remote" ;;
+		refs/heads/* | refs/tags/* | refs/remotes/*) ;;
+		heads/* | tags/* | remotes/* ) remote="refs/$remote" ;;
 		*) remote="refs/heads/$remote" ;;
 		esac
 		case "$local" in
 		'') local= ;;
-		refs/heads/* | refs/tags/*) ;;
-		heads/* | tags/* ) local="refs/$local" ;;
+		refs/heads/* | refs/tags/* | refs/remotes/*) ;;
+		heads/* | tags/* | remotes/* ) local="refs/$local" ;;
 		*) local="refs/heads/$local" ;;
 		esac