diff --git a/Documentation/git-maintenance.txt b/Documentation/git-maintenance.txt
index 80ddd33ceba0..95a24264eb10 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-maintenance.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-maintenance.txt
@@ -94,8 +94,7 @@ prefetch::
 	objects from all registered remotes. For each remote, a `git fetch`
 	command is run. The refmap is custom to avoid updating local or remote
 	branches (those in `refs/heads` or `refs/remotes`). Instead, the
-	remote refs are stored in `refs/prefetch/<remote>/`. Also, tags are
-	not updated.
+	refs are stored in `refs/prefetch/`. Also, tags are not updated.
 +
 This is done to avoid disrupting the remote-tracking branches. The end users
 expect these refs to stay unmoved unless they initiate a fetch.  With prefetch
diff --git a/builtin/gc.c b/builtin/gc.c
index fa8128de9ae1..92cb8b4e0bfa 100644
--- a/builtin/gc.c
+++ b/builtin/gc.c
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 #include "remote.h"
 #include "object-store.h"
 #include "exec-cmd.h"
+#include "refspec.h"
 
 #define FAILED_RUN "failed to run %s"
 
@@ -877,6 +878,7 @@ static int fetch_remote(struct remote *remote, void *cbdata)
 {
 	struct maintenance_run_opts *opts = cbdata;
 	struct child_process child = CHILD_PROCESS_INIT;
+	int i;
 
 	child.git_cmd = 1;
 	strvec_pushl(&child.args, "fetch", remote->name, "--prune", "--no-tags",
@@ -886,7 +888,37 @@ static int fetch_remote(struct remote *remote, void *cbdata)
 	if (opts->quiet)
 		strvec_push(&child.args, "--quiet");
 
-	strvec_pushf(&child.args, "+refs/heads/*:refs/prefetch/%s/*", remote->name);
+	for (i = 0; i < remote->fetch.nr; i++) {
+		struct refspec_item replace;
+		struct refspec_item *rsi = &remote->fetch.items[i];
+		struct strbuf new_dst = STRBUF_INIT;
+		size_t ignore_len = 0;
+
+		if (rsi->negative) {
+			strvec_push(&child.args, remote->fetch.raw[i]);
+			continue;
+		}
+
+		refspec_item_init(&replace, remote->fetch.raw[i], 1);
+
+		/*
+		 * If a refspec dst starts with "refs/" at the start,
+		 * then we will replace "refs/" with "refs/prefetch/".
+		 * Otherwise, we will prepend the dst string with
+		 * "refs/prefetch/".
+		 */
+		if (!strncmp(replace.dst, "refs/", 5))
+			ignore_len = 5;
+
+		strbuf_addstr(&new_dst, "refs/prefetch/");
+		strbuf_addstr(&new_dst, replace.dst + ignore_len);
+		free(replace.dst);
+		replace.dst = strbuf_detach(&new_dst, NULL);
+
+		strvec_push(&child.args, refspec_item_format(&replace));
+
+		refspec_item_clear(&replace);
+	}
 
 	return !!run_command(&child);
 }
diff --git a/t/t7900-maintenance.sh b/t/t7900-maintenance.sh
index fc2315edec11..3366ea188782 100755
--- a/t/t7900-maintenance.sh
+++ b/t/t7900-maintenance.sh
@@ -142,20 +142,51 @@ test_expect_success 'prefetch multiple remotes' '
 	test_commit -C clone2 two &&
 	GIT_TRACE2_EVENT="$(pwd)/run-prefetch.txt" git maintenance run --task=prefetch 2>/dev/null &&
 	fetchargs="--prune --no-tags --no-write-fetch-head --recurse-submodules=no --refmap= --quiet" &&
-	test_subcommand git fetch remote1 $fetchargs +refs/heads/*:refs/prefetch/remote1/* <run-prefetch.txt &&
-	test_subcommand git fetch remote2 $fetchargs +refs/heads/*:refs/prefetch/remote2/* <run-prefetch.txt &&
+	test_subcommand git fetch remote1 $fetchargs +refs/heads/*:refs/prefetch/remotes/remote1/* <run-prefetch.txt &&
+	test_subcommand git fetch remote2 $fetchargs +refs/heads/*:refs/prefetch/remotes/remote2/* <run-prefetch.txt &&
 	test_path_is_missing .git/refs/remotes &&
-	git log prefetch/remote1/one &&
-	git log prefetch/remote2/two &&
+	git log prefetch/remotes/remote1/one &&
+	git log prefetch/remotes/remote2/two &&
 	git fetch --all &&
-	test_cmp_rev refs/remotes/remote1/one refs/prefetch/remote1/one &&
-	test_cmp_rev refs/remotes/remote2/two refs/prefetch/remote2/two &&
+	test_cmp_rev refs/remotes/remote1/one refs/prefetch/remotes/remote1/one &&
+	test_cmp_rev refs/remotes/remote2/two refs/prefetch/remotes/remote2/two &&
 
 	test_cmp_config refs/prefetch/ log.excludedecoration &&
 	git log --oneline --decorate --all >log &&
 	! grep "prefetch" log
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'prefetch custom refspecs' '
+	git -C clone1 branch -f special/fetched HEAD &&
+	git -C clone1 branch -f special/secret/not-fetched HEAD &&
+
+	# create multiple refspecs for remote1
+	git config --add remote.remote1.fetch +refs/heads/special/fetched:refs/heads/fetched &&
+	git config --add remote.remote1.fetch ^refs/heads/special/secret/not-fetched &&
+
+	GIT_TRACE2_EVENT="$(pwd)/prefetch-refspec.txt" git maintenance run --task=prefetch 2>/dev/null &&
+
+	fetchargs="--prune --no-tags --no-write-fetch-head --recurse-submodules=no --refmap= --quiet" &&
+
+	# skips second refspec because it is not a pattern type
+	rs1="+refs/heads/*:refs/prefetch/remotes/remote1/*" &&
+	rs2="+refs/heads/special/fetched:refs/prefetch/heads/fetched" &&
+	rs3="^refs/heads/special/secret/not-fetched" &&
+
+	test_subcommand git fetch remote1 $fetchargs $rs1 $rs2 $rs3 <prefetch-refspec.txt &&
+	test_subcommand git fetch remote2 $fetchargs +refs/heads/*:refs/prefetch/remotes/remote2/* <prefetch-refspec.txt &&
+
+	# first refspec is overridden by second
+	test_must_fail git rev-parse refs/prefetch/special/fetched &&
+	git rev-parse refs/prefetch/heads/fetched &&
+
+	# possible incorrect places for the non-fetched ref
+	test_must_fail git rev-parse refs/prefetch/remotes/remote1/secret/not-fetched &&
+	test_must_fail git rev-parse refs/prefetch/remotes/remote1/not-fetched &&
+	test_must_fail git rev-parse refs/heads/secret/not-fetched &&
+	test_must_fail git rev-parse refs/heads/not-fetched
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'prefetch and existing log.excludeDecoration values' '
 	git config --unset-all log.excludeDecoration &&
 	git config log.excludeDecoration refs/remotes/remote1/ &&
