diff --git a/remote.c b/remote.c
index 2166a2bf15..e7d735b98a 100644
--- a/remote.c
+++ b/remote.c
@@ -610,8 +610,11 @@ static int match_explicit(struct ref *src, struct ref *dst,
 	if (!matched_src)
 		errs = 1;
 
-	if (!dst_value)
+	if (!dst_value) {
+		if (!matched_src)
+			return errs;
 		dst_value = matched_src->name;
+	}
 
 	switch (count_refspec_match(dst_value, dst, &matched_dst)) {
 	case 1: