diff --git a/refs.c b/refs.c
index 118465271d..50c3849845 100644
--- a/refs.c
+++ b/refs.c
@@ -1699,6 +1699,24 @@ 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;
+
+			if (pattern[len - 1] == '/')
+				strvec_push(&normalized_exclude_patterns, pattern);
+			else
+				strvec_pushf(&normalized_exclude_patterns, "%s/",
+					     pattern);
+		}
+
+		exclude_patterns = normalized_exclude_patterns.v;
+	}
 
 	if (!(flags & DO_FOR_EACH_INCLUDE_BROKEN)) {
 		static int ref_paranoia = -1;
@@ -1719,6 +1737,8 @@ 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 c04eeb7211..04797aee59 100755
--- a/t/t1419-exclude-refs.sh
+++ b/t/t1419-exclude-refs.sh
@@ -46,6 +46,10 @@ test_expect_success 'setup' '
 			echo "create refs/heads/$name/$i $base" || return 1
 		done || return 1
 	done >in &&
+	for i in 5 6 7
+	do
+		echo "create refs/heads/bar/4/$i $base" || return 1
+	done >>in &&
 	echo "delete refs/heads/main" >>in &&
 
 	git update-ref --stdin <in &&
@@ -99,9 +103,17 @@ test_expect_success 'adjacent, non-overlapping excluded regions' '
 	esac
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'overlapping excluded regions' '
+test_expect_success 'non-directory excluded regions' '
 	for_each_ref__exclude refs/heads refs/heads/ba refs/heads/baz >actual 2>perf &&
-	for_each_ref refs/heads/foo refs/heads/quux >expect &&
+	for_each_ref refs/heads/bar refs/heads/foo refs/heads/quux >expect &&
+
+	test_cmp expect actual &&
+	assert_jumps 1 perf
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'overlapping excluded regions' '
+	for_each_ref__exclude refs/heads refs/heads/bar refs/heads/bar/4 >actual 2>perf &&
+	for_each_ref refs/heads/baz refs/heads/foo refs/heads/quux >expect &&
 
 	test_cmp expect actual &&
 	assert_jumps 1 perf
@@ -155,4 +167,14 @@ 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