diff --git a/git-parse-remote.sh b/git-parse-remote.sh
index 1122c8389d..7e87f2e06e 100755
--- a/git-parse-remote.sh
+++ b/git-parse-remote.sh
@@ -81,7 +81,14 @@ get_remote_default_refs_for_push () {
 # is to help prevent randomly "globbed" ref from being chosen as
 # a merge candidate
 expand_refs_wildcard () {
+	remote="$1"
+	shift
 	first_one=yes
+	if test "$#" = 0
+	then
+		echo empty
+		echo >&2 "Nothing specified for fetching with remote.$remote.fetch"
+	fi
 	for ref
 	do
 		lref=${ref#'+'}
@@ -132,7 +139,7 @@ canon_refs_list_for_fetch () {
 	if test "$1" = "-d"
 	then
 		shift ; remote="$1" ; shift
-		set $(expand_refs_wildcard "$@")
+		set $(expand_refs_wildcard "$remote" "$@")
 		is_explicit="$1"
 		shift
 		if test "$remote" = "$(get_default_remote)"