diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index 8c5f4d8f07..05cd230973 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -1077,7 +1077,7 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (option_required_reference.nr || option_optional_reference.nr)
 		setup_reference();
 
-	refspec_item_init(&refspec, value.buf, REFSPEC_FETCH);
+	refspec_item_init_or_die(&refspec, value.buf, REFSPEC_FETCH);
 
 	strbuf_reset(&value);
 
diff --git a/builtin/pull.c b/builtin/pull.c
index 09575fd23c..af9306ecdc 100644
--- a/builtin/pull.c
+++ b/builtin/pull.c
@@ -680,7 +680,7 @@ static const char *get_tracking_branch(const char *remote, const char *refspec)
 	const char *spec_src;
 	const char *merge_branch;
 
-	refspec_item_init(&spec, refspec, REFSPEC_FETCH);
+	refspec_item_init_or_die(&spec, refspec, REFSPEC_FETCH);
 	spec_src = spec.src;
 	if (!*spec_src || !strcmp(spec_src, "HEAD"))
 		spec_src = "HEAD";
diff --git a/refspec.c b/refspec.c
index ada7854f7a..54b6fe0c6d 100644
--- a/refspec.c
+++ b/refspec.c
@@ -122,7 +122,8 @@ static int parse_refspec(struct refspec_item *item, const char *refspec, int fet
 	return 1;
 }
 
-void refspec_item_init(struct refspec_item *item, const char *refspec, int fetch)
+void refspec_item_init_or_die(struct refspec_item *item, const char *refspec,
+			      int fetch)
 {
 	memset(item, 0, sizeof(*item));
 
@@ -150,7 +151,7 @@ void refspec_append(struct refspec *rs, const char *refspec)
 {
 	struct refspec_item item;
 
-	refspec_item_init(&item, refspec, rs->fetch);
+	refspec_item_init_or_die(&item, refspec, rs->fetch);
 
 	ALLOC_GROW(rs->items, rs->nr + 1, rs->alloc);
 	rs->items[rs->nr++] = item;
diff --git a/refspec.h b/refspec.h
index 3a9363887c..4caaf1f8e3 100644
--- a/refspec.h
+++ b/refspec.h
@@ -32,7 +32,8 @@ struct refspec {
 	int fetch;
 };
 
-void refspec_item_init(struct refspec_item *item, const char *refspec, int fetch);
+void refspec_item_init_or_die(struct refspec_item *item, const char *refspec,
+			      int fetch);
 void refspec_item_clear(struct refspec_item *item);
 void refspec_init(struct refspec *rs, int fetch);
 void refspec_append(struct refspec *rs, const char *refspec);