diff --git a/Documentation/config.txt b/Documentation/config.txt
index 6ba50b1104..d08e83a148 100644
--- a/Documentation/config.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config.txt
@@ -398,6 +398,8 @@ include::config/interactive.txt[]
 
 include::config/log.txt[]
 
+include::config/lsrefs.txt[]
+
 include::config/mailinfo.txt[]
 
 include::config/mailmap.txt[]
diff --git a/Documentation/config/lsrefs.txt b/Documentation/config/lsrefs.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dcbec11aaa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/config/lsrefs.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+lsrefs.allowUnborn::
+	Allow the server to send information about unborn symrefs during the
+	protocol v2 ref advertisement.
diff --git a/Documentation/technical/protocol-v2.txt b/Documentation/technical/protocol-v2.txt
index 85daeb5d9e..4707511c10 100644
--- a/Documentation/technical/protocol-v2.txt
+++ b/Documentation/technical/protocol-v2.txt
@@ -192,11 +192,19 @@ ls-refs takes in the following arguments:
 	When specified, only references having a prefix matching one of
 	the provided prefixes are displayed.
 
+If the 'unborn' feature is advertised the following argument can be
+included in the client's request.
+
+    unborn
+	The server may send symrefs pointing to unborn branches in the form
+	"unborn <refname> symref-target:<target>".
+
 The output of ls-refs is as follows:
 
     output = *ref
 	     flush-pkt
-    ref = PKT-LINE(obj-id SP refname *(SP ref-attribute) LF)
+    obj-id-or-unborn = (obj-id | "unborn")
+    ref = PKT-LINE(obj-id-or-unborn SP refname *(SP ref-attribute) LF)
     ref-attribute = (symref | peeled)
     symref = "symref-target:" symref-target
     peeled = "peeled:" obj-id
diff --git a/ls-refs.c b/ls-refs.c
index a1e0b473e4..ff61e704f1 100644
--- a/ls-refs.c
+++ b/ls-refs.c
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@ struct ls_refs_data {
 	unsigned peel;
 	unsigned symrefs;
 	struct strvec prefixes;
+	unsigned allow_unborn : 1;
+	unsigned unborn : 1;
 };
 
 static int send_ref(const char *refname, const struct object_id *oid,
@@ -47,7 +49,10 @@ static int send_ref(const char *refname, const struct object_id *oid,
 	if (!ref_match(&data->prefixes, refname_nons))
 		return 0;
 
-	strbuf_addf(&refline, "%s %s", oid_to_hex(oid), refname_nons);
+	if (oid)
+		strbuf_addf(&refline, "%s %s", oid_to_hex(oid), refname_nons);
+	else
+		strbuf_addf(&refline, "unborn %s", refname_nons);
 	if (data->symrefs && flag & REF_ISSYMREF) {
 		struct object_id unused;
 		const char *symref_target = resolve_ref_unsafe(refname, 0,
@@ -74,8 +79,30 @@ static int send_ref(const char *refname, const struct object_id *oid,
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static int ls_refs_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *data)
+static void send_possibly_unborn_head(struct ls_refs_data *data)
 {
+	struct strbuf namespaced = STRBUF_INIT;
+	struct object_id oid;
+	int flag;
+	int oid_is_null;
+
+	memset(&oid, 0, sizeof(oid));
+	strbuf_addf(&namespaced, "%sHEAD", get_git_namespace());
+	resolve_ref_unsafe(namespaced.buf, 0, &oid, &flag);
+	oid_is_null = is_null_oid(&oid);
+	if (!oid_is_null ||
+	    (data->unborn && data->symrefs && (flag & REF_ISSYMREF)))
+		send_ref(namespaced.buf, oid_is_null ? NULL : &oid, flag, data);
+	strbuf_release(&namespaced);
+}
+
+static int ls_refs_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb_data)
+{
+	struct ls_refs_data *data = cb_data;
+
+	if (!strcmp("lsrefs.allowunborn", var))
+		data->allow_unborn = git_config_bool(var, value);
+
 	/*
 	 * We only serve fetches over v2 for now, so respect only "uploadpack"
 	 * config. This may need to eventually be expanded to "receive", but we
@@ -91,7 +118,7 @@ int ls_refs(struct repository *r, struct strvec *keys,
 
 	memset(&data, 0, sizeof(data));
 
-	git_config(ls_refs_config, NULL);
+	git_config(ls_refs_config, &data);
 
 	while (packet_reader_read(request) == PACKET_READ_NORMAL) {
 		const char *arg = request->line;
@@ -103,14 +130,31 @@ int ls_refs(struct repository *r, struct strvec *keys,
 			data.symrefs = 1;
 		else if (skip_prefix(arg, "ref-prefix ", &out))
 			strvec_push(&data.prefixes, out);
+		else if (data.allow_unborn && !strcmp("unborn", arg))
+			data.unborn = 1;
 	}
 
 	if (request->status != PACKET_READ_FLUSH)
 		die(_("expected flush after ls-refs arguments"));
 
-	head_ref_namespaced(send_ref, &data);
+	send_possibly_unborn_head(&data);
 	for_each_namespaced_ref(send_ref, &data);
 	packet_flush(1);
 	strvec_clear(&data.prefixes);
 	return 0;
 }
+
+int ls_refs_advertise(struct repository *r, struct strbuf *value)
+{
+	if (value) {
+		int allow_unborn_value;
+
+		if (!repo_config_get_bool(the_repository,
+					 "lsrefs.allowunborn",
+					 &allow_unborn_value) &&
+		    allow_unborn_value)
+			strbuf_addstr(value, "unborn");
+	}
+
+	return 1;
+}
diff --git a/ls-refs.h b/ls-refs.h
index 7b33a7c6b8..a99e4be0bd 100644
--- a/ls-refs.h
+++ b/ls-refs.h
@@ -6,5 +6,6 @@ struct strvec;
 struct packet_reader;
 int ls_refs(struct repository *r, struct strvec *keys,
 	    struct packet_reader *request);
+int ls_refs_advertise(struct repository *r, struct strbuf *value);
 
 #endif /* LS_REFS_H */
diff --git a/serve.c b/serve.c
index eec2fe6f29..ac20c72763 100644
--- a/serve.c
+++ b/serve.c
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ struct protocol_capability {
 
 static struct protocol_capability capabilities[] = {
 	{ "agent", agent_advertise, NULL },
-	{ "ls-refs", always_advertise, ls_refs },
+	{ "ls-refs", ls_refs_advertise, ls_refs },
 	{ "fetch", upload_pack_advertise, upload_pack_v2 },
 	{ "server-option", always_advertise, NULL },
 	{ "object-format", object_format_advertise, NULL },
