diff --git a/builtin/receive-pack.c b/builtin/receive-pack.c
index c8e32b297c..49cc88d72f 100644
--- a/builtin/receive-pack.c
+++ b/builtin/receive-pack.c
@@ -1081,13 +1081,13 @@ static void check_aliased_update(struct command *cmd, struct string_list *list)
 	if (!(flag & REF_ISSYMREF))
 		return;
 
-	dst_name = strip_namespace(dst_name);
 	if (!dst_name) {
 		rp_error("refusing update to broken symref '%s'", cmd->ref_name);
 		cmd->skip_update = 1;
 		cmd->error_string = "broken symref";
 		return;
 	}
+	dst_name = strip_namespace(dst_name);
 
 	if ((item = string_list_lookup(list, dst_name)) == NULL)
 		return;