diff --git a/refs.c b/refs.c
index 915aeb4d1d..fa943d7d64 100644
--- a/refs.c
+++ b/refs.c
@@ -1560,6 +1560,20 @@ struct ref_iterator *refs_ref_iterator_begin(
 		enum do_for_each_ref_flags flags)
 {
 	struct ref_iterator *iter;
+	struct strvec normalized_exclude_patterns = STRVEC_INIT;
+
+	if (exclude_patterns) {
+		for (size_t i = 0; exclude_patterns[i]; i++) {
+			const char *pattern = exclude_patterns[i];
+			size_t len = strlen(pattern);
+			if (!len)
+				continue;
+
+			strvec_push(&normalized_exclude_patterns, pattern);
+		}
+
+		exclude_patterns = normalized_exclude_patterns.v;
+	}
 
 	if (!(flags & DO_FOR_EACH_INCLUDE_BROKEN)) {
 		static int ref_paranoia = -1;
@@ -1580,6 +1594,8 @@ struct ref_iterator *refs_ref_iterator_begin(
 	if (trim)
 		iter = prefix_ref_iterator_begin(iter, "", trim);
 
+	strvec_clear(&normalized_exclude_patterns);
+
 	return iter;
 }
 
diff --git a/t/t1419-exclude-refs.sh b/t/t1419-exclude-refs.sh
index 1359574419..b5e01e9f45 100755
--- a/t/t1419-exclude-refs.sh
+++ b/t/t1419-exclude-refs.sh
@@ -125,4 +125,14 @@ test_expect_success 'meta-characters are discarded' '
 	assert_no_jumps perf
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'empty string exclude pattern is ignored' '
+	git update-ref refs/heads/loose $(git rev-parse refs/heads/foo/1) &&
+
+	for_each_ref__exclude refs/heads "" >actual 2>perf &&
+	for_each_ref >expect &&
+
+	test_cmp expect actual &&
+	assert_no_jumps perf
+'
+
 test_done