diff --git a/Documentation/config/init.adoc b/Documentation/config/init.adoc
index 7b4abdaf8b..a048f0bddc 100644
--- a/Documentation/config/init.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/config/init.adoc
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ endif::[]
 	this config.
 `init.defaultRefFormat`::
 	Allows overriding the default ref storage format for new repositories.
-	See `--ref-format=` in linkgit:git-init[1]. Both the command line
+	See `--ref-storage-format=` in linkgit:git-init[1]. Both the command line
 	option and the `GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT` environment variable take
 	precedence over this config.
 
diff --git a/Documentation/git-init.adoc b/Documentation/git-init.adoc
index bab99b9b47..73e1f787cb 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-init.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/git-init.adoc
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ SYNOPSIS
 [synopsis]
 git init [-q | --quiet] [--bare] [--template=<template-directory>]
 	 [--separate-git-dir <git-dir>] [--object-format=<format>]
-	 [--ref-format=<format>]
+	 [--ref-storage-format=<format>]
 	 [-b <branch-name> | --initial-branch=<branch-name>]
 	 [--shared[=<permissions>]] [<directory>]
 
@@ -57,11 +57,14 @@ values are `sha1` and (if enabled) `sha256`.  `sha1` is the default.
 +
 include::object-format-disclaimer.adoc[]
 
-`--ref-format=<format>`::
+`--ref-storage-format=<format>`::
 Specify the given ref storage _<format>_ for the repository. The valid values are:
 +
 include::ref-storage-format.adoc[]
 
+`--ref-format=<format>`::
+Deprecated alias of `--ref-storage-format=<format>`.
+
 `--template=<template-directory>`::
 Specify the directory from which templates will be used.  (See the "TEMPLATE
 DIRECTORY" section below.)
diff --git a/Documentation/git.adoc b/Documentation/git.adoc
index 8a5cdd3b3d..23ba65656e 100644
--- a/Documentation/git.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/git.adoc
@@ -593,7 +593,7 @@ double-quotes and respecting backslash escapes. E.g., the value
 `GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT`::
 	If this variable is set, the default reference backend format for new
 	repositories will be set to this value. The default is "files".
-	See `--ref-format` in linkgit:git-init[1].
+	See `--ref-storage-format` in linkgit:git-init[1].
 
 `GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND`::
     Specify which reference backend to be used along with its URI.
diff --git a/builtin/init-db.c b/builtin/init-db.c
index e96b1283b7..1612413af0 100644
--- a/builtin/init-db.c
+++ b/builtin/init-db.c
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ static int shared_callback(const struct option *opt, const char *arg, int unset)
 static const char *const init_db_usage[] = {
 	N_("git init [-q | --quiet] [--bare] [--template=<template-directory>]\n"
 	   "         [--separate-git-dir <git-dir>] [--object-format=<format>]\n"
-	   "         [--ref-format=<format>]\n"
+	   "         [--ref-storage-format=<format>]\n"
 	   "         [-b <branch-name> | --initial-branch=<branch-name>]\n"
 	   "         [--shared[=<permissions>]] [<directory>]"),
 	NULL
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ int cmd_init_db(int argc,
 	unsigned int flags = 0;
 	int bare = startup_info->force_bare_repository ? 1 : -1;
 	const char *object_format = NULL;
-	const char *ref_format = NULL;
+	const char *ref_storage_format_str = NULL;
 	const char *initial_branch = NULL;
 	int hash_algo = GIT_HASH_UNKNOWN;
 	enum ref_storage_format ref_storage_format = REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN;
@@ -109,8 +109,9 @@ int cmd_init_db(int argc,
 			   N_("override the name of the initial branch")),
 		OPT_STRING(0, "object-format", &object_format, N_("hash"),
 			   N_("specify the hash algorithm to use")),
-		OPT_STRING(0, "ref-format", &ref_format, N_("format"),
-			   N_("specify the reference format to use")),
+		OPT_STRING(0, "ref-storage-format", &ref_storage_format_str, N_("format"),
+			   N_("specify the reference storage format to use")),
+		OPT_ALIAS_F(0, "ref-format", "ref-storage-format", PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),
 		OPT_END()
 	};
 	int ret;
@@ -173,10 +174,10 @@ int cmd_init_db(int argc,
 			die(_("unknown hash algorithm '%s'"), object_format);
 	}
 
-	if (ref_format) {
-		ref_storage_format = ref_storage_format_by_name(ref_format);
+	if (ref_storage_format_str) {
+		ref_storage_format = ref_storage_format_by_name(ref_storage_format_str);
 		if (ref_storage_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)
-			die(_("unknown ref storage format '%s'"), ref_format);
+			die(_("unknown ref storage format '%s'"), ref_storage_format_str);
 	}
 
 	if (init_shared_repository != -1)
diff --git a/t/perf/p1401-ref-store-tombstones.sh b/t/perf/p1401-ref-store-tombstones.sh
index 9e3d8031aa..37ffe0c3a7 100755
--- a/t/perf/p1401-ref-store-tombstones.sh
+++ b/t/perf/p1401-ref-store-tombstones.sh
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ test_description="Tests performance of ref operations with many tombstones"
 . ./perf-lib.sh
 
 test_expect_success "setup" '
-	git init --ref-format=reftable repo &&
+	git init --ref-storage-format=reftable repo &&
 	blob=$(echo foo | git -C repo hash-object -w --stdin) &&
 	for i in $(test_seq 8000)
 	do
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ test_perf "recreate refs after mass delete" '
 '
 
 test_expect_success "setup asymmetric" '
-	git init --ref-format=reftable repo2 &&
+	git init --ref-storage-format=reftable repo2 &&
 	blob=$(echo foo | git -C repo2 hash-object -w --stdin) &&
 	for i in $(test_seq 8000)
 	do
diff --git a/t/perf/perf-lib.sh b/t/perf/perf-lib.sh
index 2ac007888e..3ce49fd423 100644
--- a/t/perf/perf-lib.sh
+++ b/t/perf/perf-lib.sh
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ test_perf_create_repo_from () {
 	) &&
 	(
 		cd "$repo" &&
-		"$MODERN_GIT" init -q --ref-format="$refformat" --object-format="$objectformat" &&
+		"$MODERN_GIT" init -q --ref-storage-format="$refformat" --object-format="$objectformat" &&
 		test_perf_do_repo_symlink_config_ &&
 		mv .git/hooks .git/hooks-disabled 2>/dev/null &&
 		if test -f .git/index.lock
diff --git a/t/t0001-init.sh b/t/t0001-init.sh
index 5cf2e5a35a..df9a2ff2da 100755
--- a/t/t0001-init.sh
+++ b/t/t0001-init.sh
@@ -696,9 +696,9 @@ do
 		test_cmp expect actual
 	'
 
-	test_expect_success "init with --ref-format=$format" '
+	test_expect_success "init with --ref-storage-format=$format" '
 		test_when_finished "rm -rf refformat" &&
-		git init --ref-format=$format refformat &&
+		git init --ref-storage-format=$format refformat &&
 		echo $format >expect &&
 		git -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&
 		test_cmp expect actual
@@ -717,9 +717,9 @@ do
 		test_cmp expect actual
 	'
 
-	test_expect_success "--ref-format=$format overrides GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT" '
+	test_expect_success "--ref-storage-format=$format overrides GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT" '
 		test_when_finished "rm -rf refformat" &&
-		GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=garbage git init --ref-format=$format refformat &&
+		GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=garbage git init --ref-storage-format=$format refformat &&
 		echo $format >expect &&
 		git -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&
 		test_cmp expect actual
@@ -735,9 +735,9 @@ do
 	'
 done
 
-test_expect_success "--ref-format= overrides GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT" '
+test_expect_success "--ref-storage-format= overrides GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT" '
 	test_when_finished "rm -rf refformat" &&
-	GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=files git init --ref-format=reftable refformat &&
+	GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=files git init --ref-storage-format=reftable refformat &&
 	echo reftable >expect &&
 	git -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
@@ -791,8 +791,8 @@ for from_format in $backends
 do
 	test_expect_success "re-init with same format ($from_format)" '
 		test_when_finished "rm -rf refformat" &&
-		git init --ref-format=$from_format refformat &&
-		git init --ref-format=$from_format refformat &&
+		git init --ref-storage-format=$from_format refformat &&
+		git init --ref-storage-format=$from_format refformat &&
 		echo $from_format >expect &&
 		git -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&
 		test_cmp expect actual
@@ -807,11 +807,11 @@ do
 
 		test_expect_success "re-init with different format fails ($from_format -> $to_format)" '
 			test_when_finished "rm -rf refformat" &&
-			git init --ref-format=$from_format refformat &&
+			git init --ref-storage-format=$from_format refformat &&
 			cat >expect <<-EOF &&
 			fatal: attempt to reinitialize repository with different reference storage format
 			EOF
-			test_must_fail git init --ref-format=$to_format refformat 2>err &&
+			test_must_fail git init --ref-storage-format=$to_format refformat 2>err &&
 			test_cmp expect err &&
 			echo $from_format >expect &&
 			git -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&
@@ -820,12 +820,12 @@ do
 	done
 done
 
-test_expect_success 'init with --ref-format=garbage' '
+test_expect_success 'init with --ref-storage-format=garbage' '
 	test_when_finished "rm -rf refformat" &&
 	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
 	fatal: unknown ref storage format ${SQ}garbage${SQ}
 	EOF
-	test_must_fail git init --ref-format=garbage refformat 2>err &&
+	test_must_fail git init --ref-storage-format=garbage refformat 2>err &&
 	test_cmp expect err
 '
 
diff --git a/t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh b/t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh
index 35e98b43db..1cf96ce2c5 100755
--- a/t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh
+++ b/t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh
@@ -59,28 +59,28 @@ test_expect_success 'init: reinitializing reftable backend succeeds' '
 	test_commit -C repo A &&
 
 	git -C repo for-each-ref >expect &&
-	git init --ref-format=reftable repo &&
+	git init --ref-storage-format=reftable repo &&
 	git -C repo for-each-ref >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'init: reinitializing files with reftable backend fails' '
 	test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
-	git init --ref-format=files repo &&
+	git init --ref-storage-format=files repo &&
 	test_commit -C repo file &&
 
 	cp repo/.git/HEAD expect &&
-	test_must_fail git init --ref-format=reftable repo &&
+	test_must_fail git init --ref-storage-format=reftable repo &&
 	test_cmp expect repo/.git/HEAD
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'init: reinitializing reftable with files backend fails' '
 	test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
-	git init --ref-format=reftable repo &&
+	git init --ref-storage-format=reftable repo &&
 	test_commit -C repo file &&
 
 	cp repo/.git/HEAD expect &&
-	test_must_fail git init --ref-format=files repo &&
+	test_must_fail git init --ref-storage-format=files repo &&
 	test_cmp expect repo/.git/HEAD
 '
 
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ test_expect_success 'clone: can clone reftable repository' '
 
 test_expect_success 'clone: can clone reffiles into reftable repository' '
 	test_when_finished "rm -rf reffiles reftable" &&
-	git init --ref-format=files reffiles &&
+	git init --ref-storage-format=files reffiles &&
 	test_commit -C reffiles A &&
 	git clone --ref-format=reftable ./reffiles reftable &&
 
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ test_expect_success 'clone: can clone reffiles into reftable repository' '
 
 test_expect_success 'clone: can clone reftable into reffiles repository' '
 	test_when_finished "rm -rf reffiles reftable" &&
-	git init --ref-format=reftable reftable &&
+	git init --ref-storage-format=reftable reftable &&
 	test_commit -C reftable A &&
 	git clone --ref-format=files ./reftable reffiles &&
 
diff --git a/t/t0611-reftable-httpd.sh b/t/t0611-reftable-httpd.sh
index 5e05b9c1f2..b030814b9f 100755
--- a/t/t0611-reftable-httpd.sh
+++ b/t/t0611-reftable-httpd.sh
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ start_httpd
 REPO="$HTTPD_DOCUMENT_ROOT_PATH/repo"
 
 test_expect_success 'serving ls-remote' '
-	git init --ref-format=reftable -b main "$REPO" &&
+	git init --ref-storage-format=reftable -b main "$REPO" &&
 	cd "$REPO" &&
 	test_commit m1 &&
 	>.git/git-daemon-export-ok &&
diff --git a/t/t1400-update-ref.sh b/t/t1400-update-ref.sh
index 269fdaa3ed..1a164c96f9 100755
--- a/t/t1400-update-ref.sh
+++ b/t/t1400-update-ref.sh
@@ -2361,7 +2361,7 @@ do
 	'
 
 	test_expect_success CASE_INSENSITIVE_FS "stdin $type batch-updates existing reference" '
-		git init --ref-format=reftable repo &&
+		git init --ref-storage-format=reftable repo &&
 		test_when_finished "rm -fr repo" &&
 		(
 			cd repo &&
diff --git a/t/t1423-ref-backend.sh b/t/t1423-ref-backend.sh
index fd47d77e8e..9ae295cf3d 100755
--- a/t/t1423-ref-backend.sh
+++ b/t/t1423-ref-backend.sh
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ do
 
 		test_expect_success "$method: read from $to_format backend, $dir dir" '
 			test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
-			git init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&
+			git init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&
 			(
 				cd repo &&
 				test_commit 1 &&
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ do
 
 		test_expect_success "$method: write to $to_format backend, $dir dir" '
 			test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
-			git init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&
+			git init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&
 			(
 				cd repo &&
 				test_commit 1 &&
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ do
 
 		test_expect_success "$method: with worktree and $to_format backend, $dir dir" '
 			test_when_finished "rm -rf repo wt" &&
-			git init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&
+			git init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&
 			(
 				cd repo &&
 				test_commit 1 &&
diff --git a/t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh b/t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh
index 8f42697143..bb2507f571 100755
--- a/t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh
+++ b/t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ do
 
 		test_expect_success "$from_format: migration to same format fails" '
 			test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
-			git init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&
+			git init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&
 			test_must_fail git -C repo refs migrate \
 				--ref-format=$from_format 2>err &&
 			cat >expect <<-EOF &&
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ do
 
 		test_expect_success "$from_format -> $to_format: migration with worktree fails" '
 			test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
-			git init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&
+			git init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&
 			git -C repo worktree add wt &&
 			test_must_fail git -C repo refs migrate \
 				--ref-format=$to_format 2>err &&
@@ -128,20 +128,20 @@ do
 
 		test_expect_success "$from_format -> $to_format: unborn HEAD" '
 			test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
-			git init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&
+			git init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&
 			test_migration repo "$to_format"
 		'
 
 		test_expect_success "$from_format -> $to_format: single ref" '
 			test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
-			git init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&
+			git init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&
 			test_commit -C repo initial &&
 			test_migration repo "$to_format"
 		'
 
 		test_expect_success "$from_format -> $to_format: bare repository" '
 			test_when_finished "rm -rf repo repo.git" &&
-			git init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&
+			git init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&
 			test_commit -C repo initial &&
 			git clone --ref-format=$from_format --mirror repo repo.git &&
 			test_migration repo.git "$to_format"
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ do
 
 		test_expect_success "$from_format -> $to_format: dangling symref" '
 			test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
-			git init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&
+			git init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&
 			test_commit -C repo initial &&
 			git -C repo symbolic-ref BROKEN_HEAD refs/heads/nonexistent &&
 			test_migration repo "$to_format" &&
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ do
 
 		test_expect_success "$from_format -> $to_format: broken ref" '
 			test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
-			git init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&
+			git init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&
 			test_commit -C repo initial &&
 			test-tool -C repo ref-store main update-ref "" refs/heads/broken \
 				"$(test_oid 001)" "$ZERO_OID" REF_SKIP_CREATE_REFLOG,REF_SKIP_OID_VERIFICATION &&
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ do
 
 		test_expect_success "$from_format -> $to_format: pseudo-refs" '
 			test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
-			git init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&
+			git init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&
 			test_commit -C repo initial &&
 			git -C repo update-ref FOO_HEAD HEAD &&
 			test_migration repo "$to_format"
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ do
 
 		test_expect_success "$from_format -> $to_format: special refs are left alone" '
 			test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
-			git init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&
+			git init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&
 			test_commit -C repo initial &&
 			git -C repo rev-parse HEAD >repo/.git/MERGE_HEAD &&
 			git -C repo rev-parse MERGE_HEAD &&
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ do
 
 		test_expect_success "$from_format -> $to_format: a bunch of refs" '
 			test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
-			git init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&
+			git init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&
 
 			test_commit -C repo initial &&
 			cat >input <<-EOF &&
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ do
 
 		test_expect_success "$from_format -> $to_format: dry-run migration does not modify repository" '
 			test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
-			git init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&
+			git init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&
 			test_commit -C repo initial &&
 			git -C repo refs migrate --dry-run \
 				--ref-format=$to_format >output &&
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ do
 
 		test_expect_success "$from_format -> $to_format: reflogs of symrefs with target deleted" '
 			test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
-			git init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&
+			git init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&
 			test_commit -C repo initial &&
 			git -C repo branch branch-1 HEAD &&
 			git -C repo symbolic-ref refs/heads/symref refs/heads/branch-1 &&
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ do
 
 		test_expect_success "$from_format -> $to_format: reflogs order is retained" '
 			test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
-			git init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&
+			git init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&
 			test_commit --date "100005000 +0700" --no-tag -C repo initial &&
 			test_commit --date "100003000 +0700" --no-tag -C repo second &&
 			test_migration repo "$to_format"
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ do
 
 		test_expect_success "$from_format -> $to_format: stash is retained" '
 			test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
-			git init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&
+			git init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&
 			(
 				cd repo &&
 				test_commit initial A &&
@@ -259,7 +259,7 @@ do
 
 		test_expect_success "$from_format -> $to_format: skip reflog with --skip-reflog" '
 			test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
-			git init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&
+			git init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&
 			test_commit -C repo initial &&
 			# we see that the repository contains reflogs.
 			git -C repo reflog --all >reflogs &&
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ done
 
 test_expect_success 'multiple reftable blocks with multiple entries' '
 	test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
-	git init --ref-format=files repo &&
+	git init --ref-storage-format=files repo &&
 	test_commit -C repo first &&
 	test_seq -f "create refs/heads/ref-%d HEAD" 5000 |
 	git -C repo update-ref --stdin &&
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ test_expect_success 'multiple reftable blocks with multiple entries' '
 
 test_expect_success 'migrating from files format deletes backend files' '
 	test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
-	git init --ref-format=files repo &&
+	git init --ref-storage-format=files repo &&
 	test_commit -C repo first &&
 	git -C repo pack-refs --all &&
 	test_commit -C repo second &&
@@ -313,7 +313,7 @@ test_expect_success 'migrating from files format deletes backend files' '
 
 test_expect_success 'migrating from reftable format deletes backend files' '
 	test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
-	git init --ref-format=reftable repo &&
+	git init --ref-storage-format=reftable repo &&
 	test_commit -C repo first &&
 
 	test_path_is_dir repo/.git/reftable &&
diff --git a/t/t1900-repo-info.sh b/t/t1900-repo-info.sh
index c85d390f43..d115d2d9f9 100755
--- a/t/t1900-repo-info.sh
+++ b/t/t1900-repo-info.sh
@@ -39,10 +39,10 @@ test_repo_info () {
 }
 
 test_repo_info 'ref format files is retrieved correctly' \
-	'git init --ref-format=files' 'format-files' 'references.format' 'files'
+	'git init --ref-storage-format=files' 'format-files' 'references.format' 'files'
 
 test_repo_info 'ref format reftable is retrieved correctly' \
-	'git init --ref-format=reftable' 'format-reftable' 'references.format' 'reftable'
+	'git init --ref-storage-format=reftable' 'format-reftable' 'references.format' 'reftable'
 
 test_repo_info 'bare repository = false is retrieved correctly' \
 	'git init' 'nonbare' 'layout.bare' 'false'
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ test_expect_success 'values returned in order requested' '
 	references.format=files
 	layout.bare=false
 	EOF
-	git init --ref-format=files ordered &&
+	git init --ref-storage-format=files ordered &&
 	git -C ordered repo info layout.bare references.format layout.bare >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
diff --git a/t/t5510-fetch.sh b/t/t5510-fetch.sh
index a8d38d9176..359c3cf99b 100755
--- a/t/t5510-fetch.sh
+++ b/t/t5510-fetch.sh
@@ -1803,7 +1803,7 @@ test_expect_success CASE_INSENSITIVE_FS,REFFILES 'existing references in a case
 test_expect_success REFFILES 'existing reference lock in repo' '
 	test_when_finished rm -rf base repo &&
 	(
-		git init --ref-format=reftable base &&
+		git init --ref-storage-format=reftable base &&
 		cd base &&
 		echo >file update &&
 		git add . &&
@@ -1814,7 +1814,7 @@ test_expect_success REFFILES 'existing reference lock in repo' '
 		git update-ref refs/heads/branch @ &&
 		cd .. &&
 
-		git init --ref-format=files --bare repo &&
+		git init --ref-storage-format=files --bare repo &&
 		cd repo &&
 		git remote add origin ../base &&
 		touch refs/heads/foo.lock &&
@@ -1857,7 +1857,7 @@ test_expect_success CASE_INSENSITIVE_FS,REFFILES 'D/F conflict on case insensiti
 test_expect_success REFFILES 'D/F conflict on case sensitive filesystem with lock' '
 	test_when_finished rm -rf base repo &&
 	(
-		git init --ref-format=reftable base &&
+		git init --ref-storage-format=reftable base &&
 		cd base &&
 		echo >file update &&
 		git add . &&
@@ -1868,7 +1868,7 @@ test_expect_success REFFILES 'D/F conflict on case sensitive filesystem with loc
 		git update-ref refs/heads/branch @ &&
 		cd .. &&
 
-		git init --ref-format=files --bare repo &&
+		git init --ref-storage-format=files --bare repo &&
 		cd repo &&
 		git remote add origin ../base &&
 		mkdir refs/heads/foo &&
diff --git a/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh b/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh
index 559713b607..1ca245c732 100755
--- a/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh
+++ b/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ test_expect_success 'add existing repository with different ref storage format'
 	(
 		cd parent &&
 		test_commit parent &&
-		git init --ref-format=$OTHER_FORMAT submodule &&
+		git init --ref-storage-format=$OTHER_FORMAT submodule &&
 		test_commit -C submodule submodule &&
 		git submodule add ./submodule
 	)