diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index 2ee1fa9846..20496bdad0 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -340,8 +340,9 @@ static void remove_junk_on_signal(int signo)
 static struct ref *wanted_peer_refs(const struct ref *refs,
 		struct refspec *refspec)
 {
-	struct ref *local_refs = NULL;
-	struct ref **tail = &local_refs;
+	struct ref *head = copy_ref(find_ref_by_name(refs, "HEAD"));
+	struct ref *local_refs = head;
+	struct ref **tail = head ? &head->next : &local_refs;
 
 	get_fetch_map(refs, refspec, &tail, 0);
 	if (!option_mirror)
@@ -354,8 +355,11 @@ static void write_remote_refs(const struct ref *local_refs)
 {
 	const struct ref *r;
 
-	for (r = local_refs; r; r = r->next)
+	for (r = local_refs; r; r = r->next) {
+		if (!r->peer_ref)
+			continue;
 		add_extra_ref(r->peer_ref->name, r->old_sha1, 0);
+	}
 
 	pack_refs(PACK_REFS_ALL);
 	clear_extra_refs();
diff --git a/t/t5707-clone-detached.sh b/t/t5707-clone-detached.sh
index d63b1e390e..8b0d607df1 100755
--- a/t/t5707-clone-detached.sh
+++ b/t/t5707-clone-detached.sh
@@ -58,18 +58,18 @@ test_expect_success 'cloned HEAD is detached' '
 	head_is_detached detached-history
 '
 
-test_expect_failure 'clone repo (orphan detached HEAD)' '
+test_expect_success 'clone repo (orphan detached HEAD)' '
 	git checkout master^0 &&
 	echo four >file &&
 	git commit -a -m four &&
 	git clone "file://$PWD" detached-orphan
 '
-test_expect_failure 'cloned HEAD matches' '
+test_expect_success 'cloned HEAD matches' '
 	echo four >expect &&
 	git --git-dir=detached-orphan/.git log -1 --format=%s >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
-test_expect_failure 'cloned HEAD is detached' '
+test_expect_success 'cloned HEAD is detached' '
 	head_is_detached detached-orphan
 '