diff --git a/branch.c b/branch.c
index 22f4f46b96..e26301197d 100644
--- a/branch.c
+++ b/branch.c
@@ -840,7 +840,7 @@ void create_branches_recursively(struct repository *r, const char *name,
 	 * tedious to determine whether or not tracking was set up in the
 	 * superproject.
 	 */
-	if (track)
+	if (tracking_name && track)
 		setup_tracking(name, tracking_name, track, quiet);
 
 	for (i = 0; i < submodule_entry_list.entry_nr; i++) {
diff --git a/t/t3207-branch-submodule.sh b/t/t3207-branch-submodule.sh
index 4afb2d3198..97d057959d 100755
--- a/t/t3207-branch-submodule.sh
+++ b/t/t3207-branch-submodule.sh
@@ -98,6 +98,23 @@ test_expect_success 'should respect submodule.recurse when creating branches' '
 	)
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'should move a branch to a start point that names no ref' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf no-submodules" &&
+	git init no-submodules &&
+	(
+		cd no-submodules &&
+		test_commit one &&
+		test_commit two &&
+		git remote add origin . &&
+		git config submodule.propagateBranches true &&
+		git config submodule.recurse true &&
+		git branch branch-a HEAD~1 &&
+		oid=$(git rev-parse HEAD) &&
+		git branch -f branch-a "$oid" &&
+		test_cmp_rev HEAD branch-a
+	)
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'should ignore submodule.recurse when not creating branches' '
 	test_when_finished "reset_test" &&
 	(