diff --git a/builtin/describe.c b/builtin/describe.c
index c8ff64766d..41606c8a90 100644
--- a/builtin/describe.c
+++ b/builtin/describe.c
@@ -93,13 +93,13 @@ static int replace_name(struct commit_name *e,
 		struct tag *t;
 
 		if (!e->tag) {
-			t = lookup_tag(&e->oid);
+			t = lookup_tag(the_repository, &e->oid);
 			if (!t || parse_tag(t))
 				return 1;
 			e->tag = t;
 		}
 
-		t = lookup_tag(oid);
+		t = lookup_tag(the_repository, oid);
 		if (!t || parse_tag(t))
 			return 0;
 		*tag = t;
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ static unsigned long finish_depth_computation(
 static void append_name(struct commit_name *n, struct strbuf *dst)
 {
 	if (n->prio == 2 && !n->tag) {
-		n->tag = lookup_tag(&n->oid);
+		n->tag = lookup_tag(the_repository, &n->oid);
 		if (!n->tag || parse_tag(n->tag))
 			die(_("annotated tag %s not available"), n->path);
 	}
diff --git a/builtin/pack-objects.c b/builtin/pack-objects.c
index 69d3d7b82a..6565c800ac 100644
--- a/builtin/pack-objects.c
+++ b/builtin/pack-objects.c
@@ -2474,7 +2474,7 @@ static void add_tag_chain(const struct object_id *oid)
 	if (packlist_find(&to_pack, oid->hash, NULL))
 		return;
 
-	tag = lookup_tag(oid);
+	tag = lookup_tag(the_repository, oid);
 	while (1) {
 		if (!tag || parse_tag(tag) || !tag->tagged)
 			die("unable to pack objects reachable from tag %s",
diff --git a/builtin/replace.c b/builtin/replace.c
index 0232f98f02..0351b7c62c 100644
--- a/builtin/replace.c
+++ b/builtin/replace.c
@@ -402,7 +402,7 @@ static int check_one_mergetag(struct commit *commit,
 	int i;
 
 	hash_object_file(extra->value, extra->len, type_name(OBJ_TAG), &tag_oid);
-	tag = lookup_tag(&tag_oid);
+	tag = lookup_tag(the_repository, &tag_oid);
 	if (!tag)
 		return error(_("bad mergetag in commit '%s'"), ref);
 	if (parse_tag_buffer(tag, extra->value, extra->len))
diff --git a/log-tree.c b/log-tree.c
index abe67e8b2e..840423ca14 100644
--- a/log-tree.c
+++ b/log-tree.c
@@ -498,7 +498,7 @@ static int show_one_mergetag(struct commit *commit,
 	size_t payload_size, gpg_message_offset;
 
 	hash_object_file(extra->value, extra->len, type_name(OBJ_TAG), &oid);
-	tag = lookup_tag(&oid);
+	tag = lookup_tag(the_repository, &oid);
 	if (!tag)
 		return -1; /* error message already given */
 
diff --git a/object.c b/object.c
index f08a8874de..bcfcfd3876 100644
--- a/object.c
+++ b/object.c
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ struct object *parse_object_buffer_the_repository(const struct object_id *oid, e
 			obj = &commit->object;
 		}
 	} else if (type == OBJ_TAG) {
-		struct tag *tag = lookup_tag(oid);
+		struct tag *tag = lookup_tag(the_repository, oid);
 		if (tag) {
 			if (parse_tag_buffer(tag, buffer, size))
 			       return NULL;
diff --git a/sha1-name.c b/sha1-name.c
index 98480ade12..5854bc75fe 100644
--- a/sha1-name.c
+++ b/sha1-name.c
@@ -358,7 +358,7 @@ static int show_ambiguous_object(const struct object_id *oid, void *data)
 			format_commit_message(commit, " %ad - %s", &desc, &pp);
 		}
 	} else if (type == OBJ_TAG) {
-		struct tag *tag = lookup_tag(oid);
+		struct tag *tag = lookup_tag(the_repository, oid);
 		if (!parse_tag(tag) && tag->tag)
 			strbuf_addf(&desc, " %s", tag->tag);
 	}
diff --git a/tag.c b/tag.c
index 5dcdf7bf6f..5b41fc71fa 100644
--- a/tag.c
+++ b/tag.c
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ struct object *deref_tag_noverify(struct object *o)
 	return o;
 }
 
-struct tag *lookup_tag(const struct object_id *oid)
+struct tag *lookup_tag_the_repository(const struct object_id *oid)
 {
 	struct object *obj = lookup_object(the_repository, oid->hash);
 	if (!obj)
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ int parse_tag_buffer(struct tag *item, const void *data, unsigned long size)
 	} else if (!strcmp(type, commit_type)) {
 		item->tagged = (struct object *)lookup_commit(the_repository, &oid);
 	} else if (!strcmp(type, tag_type)) {
-		item->tagged = (struct object *)lookup_tag(&oid);
+		item->tagged = (struct object *)lookup_tag(the_repository, &oid);
 	} else {
 		error("Unknown type %s", type);
 		item->tagged = NULL;
diff --git a/tag.h b/tag.h
index 9057d76a50..276c448cd5 100644
--- a/tag.h
+++ b/tag.h
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@ struct tag {
 	char *tag;
 	timestamp_t date;
 };
-
-extern struct tag *lookup_tag(const struct object_id *oid);
+#define lookup_tag(r, o) lookup_tag_##r(o)
+extern struct tag *lookup_tag_the_repository(const struct object_id *oid);
 extern int parse_tag_buffer(struct tag *item, const void *data, unsigned long size);
 extern int parse_tag(struct tag *item);
 extern void release_tag_memory(struct tag *t);