diff --git a/builtin/for-each-ref.c b/builtin/for-each-ref.c
index 1d4083c2dd..d096051b15 100644
--- a/builtin/for-each-ref.c
+++ b/builtin/for-each-ref.c
@@ -205,6 +205,22 @@ static void *get_obj(const unsigned char *sha1, struct object **obj, unsigned lo
 	return buf;
 }
 
+static int grab_objectname(const char *name, const unsigned char *sha1,
+			    struct atom_value *v)
+{
+	if (!strcmp(name, "objectname")) {
+		char *s = xmalloc(41);
+		strcpy(s, sha1_to_hex(sha1));
+		v->s = s;
+		return 1;
+	}
+	if (!strcmp(name, "objectname:short")) {
+		v->s = xstrdup(find_unique_abbrev(sha1, DEFAULT_ABBREV));
+		return 1;
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
 /* See grab_values */
 static void grab_common_values(struct atom_value *val, int deref, struct object *obj, void *buf, unsigned long sz)
 {
@@ -225,15 +241,8 @@ static void grab_common_values(struct atom_value *val, int deref, struct object
 			v->ul = sz;
 			v->s = s;
 		}
-		else if (!strcmp(name, "objectname")) {
-			char *s = xmalloc(41);
-			strcpy(s, sha1_to_hex(obj->sha1));
-			v->s = s;
-		}
-		else if (!strcmp(name, "objectname:short")) {
-			v->s = xstrdup(find_unique_abbrev(obj->sha1,
-							  DEFAULT_ABBREV));
-		}
+		else if (deref)
+			grab_objectname(name, obj->sha1, v);
 	}
 }
 
@@ -676,6 +685,8 @@ static void populate_value(struct refinfo *ref)
 			}
 			continue;
 		}
+		else if (!deref && grab_objectname(name, ref->objectname, v))
+			continue;
 		else
 			continue;
 
diff --git a/t/t6300-for-each-ref.sh b/t/t6300-for-each-ref.sh
index 752f5cb7d0..da5fb6c917 100755
--- a/t/t6300-for-each-ref.sh
+++ b/t/t6300-for-each-ref.sh
@@ -58,6 +58,8 @@ test_atom head parent ''
 test_atom head numparent 0
 test_atom head object ''
 test_atom head type ''
+test_atom head '*objectname' ''
+test_atom head '*objecttype' ''
 test_atom head author 'A U Thor <author@example.com> 1151939924 +0200'
 test_atom head authorname 'A U Thor'
 test_atom head authoremail '<author@example.com>'
@@ -91,6 +93,8 @@ test_atom tag parent ''
 test_atom tag numparent ''
 test_atom tag object '67a36f10722846e891fbada1ba48ed035de75581'
 test_atom tag type 'commit'
+test_atom tag '*objectname' '67a36f10722846e891fbada1ba48ed035de75581'
+test_atom tag '*objecttype' 'commit'
 test_atom tag author ''
 test_atom tag authorname ''
 test_atom tag authoremail ''