diff --git a/ref-filter.c b/ref-filter.c
index 925d77b7b79..07b65affa9a 100644
--- a/ref-filter.c
+++ b/ref-filter.c
@@ -2210,12 +2210,14 @@ static int for_each_fullref_in_pattern(struct ref_filter *filter,
 
 	if (!filter->name_patterns[0]) {
 		/* no patterns; we have to look at everything */
-		return for_each_fullref_in("", cb, cb_data);
+		return refs_for_each_fullref_in(get_main_ref_store(the_repository),
+						 "", filter->exclude.v, cb, cb_data);
 	}
 
 	return refs_for_each_fullref_in_prefixes(get_main_ref_store(the_repository),
 						 NULL, filter->name_patterns,
-						 NULL, cb, cb_data);
+						 filter->exclude.v,
+						 cb, cb_data);
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/refs.h b/refs.h
index 3c03b035a3f..1ca1cdb9da5 100644
--- a/refs.h
+++ b/refs.h
@@ -343,6 +343,10 @@ int for_each_ref(each_ref_fn fn, void *cb_data);
  */
 int for_each_ref_in(const char *prefix, each_ref_fn fn, void *cb_data);
 
+/*
+ * references matching any pattern in "exclude_patterns" are omitted from the
+ * result set on a best-effort basis.
+ */
 int refs_for_each_fullref_in(struct ref_store *refs, const char *prefix,
 			     const char **exclude_patterns,
 			     each_ref_fn fn, void *cb_data);
diff --git a/refs/packed-backend.c b/refs/packed-backend.c
index e36334e3320..d9e008819b5 100644
--- a/refs/packed-backend.c
+++ b/refs/packed-backend.c
@@ -304,7 +304,8 @@ static int cmp_packed_ref_records(const void *v1, const void *v2)
  * Compare a snapshot record at `rec` to the specified NUL-terminated
  * refname.
  */
-static int cmp_record_to_refname(const char *rec, const char *refname)
+static int cmp_record_to_refname(const char *rec, const char *refname,
+				 int start)
 {
 	const char *r1 = rec + the_hash_algo->hexsz + 1;
 	const char *r2 = refname;
@@ -313,7 +314,7 @@ static int cmp_record_to_refname(const char *rec, const char *refname)
 		if (*r1 == '\n')
 			return *r2 ? -1 : 0;
 		if (!*r2)
-			return 1;
+			return start ? 1 : -1;
 		if (*r1 != *r2)
 			return (unsigned char)*r1 < (unsigned char)*r2 ? -1 : +1;
 		r1++;
@@ -529,7 +530,8 @@ static int load_contents(struct snapshot *snapshot)
 }
 
 static const char *find_reference_location_1(struct snapshot *snapshot,
-					     const char *refname, int mustexist)
+					     const char *refname, int mustexist,
+					     int start)
 {
 	/*
 	 * This is not *quite* a garden-variety binary search, because
@@ -559,7 +561,7 @@ static const char *find_reference_location_1(struct snapshot *snapshot,
 
 		mid = lo + (hi - lo) / 2;
 		rec = find_start_of_record(lo, mid);
-		cmp = cmp_record_to_refname(rec, refname);
+		cmp = cmp_record_to_refname(rec, refname, start);
 		if (cmp < 0) {
 			lo = find_end_of_record(mid, hi);
 		} else if (cmp > 0) {
@@ -592,7 +594,22 @@ static const char *find_reference_location_1(struct snapshot *snapshot,
 static const char *find_reference_location(struct snapshot *snapshot,
 					   const char *refname, int mustexist)
 {
-	return find_reference_location_1(snapshot, refname, mustexist);
+	return find_reference_location_1(snapshot, refname, mustexist, 1);
+}
+
+/*
+ * Find the place in `snapshot->buf` after the end of the record for
+ * `refname`. In other words, find the location of first thing *after*
+ * `refname`.
+ *
+ * Other semantics are identical to the ones in
+ * `find_reference_location()`.
+ */
+static const char *find_reference_location_end(struct snapshot *snapshot,
+					       const char *refname,
+					       int mustexist)
+{
+	return find_reference_location_1(snapshot, refname, mustexist, 0);
 }
 
 /*
@@ -786,6 +803,13 @@ struct packed_ref_iterator {
 	/* The end of the part of the buffer that will be iterated over: */
 	const char *eof;
 
+	struct jump_list_entry {
+		const char *start;
+		const char *end;
+	} *jump;
+	size_t jump_nr, jump_alloc;
+	size_t jump_cur;
+
 	/* Scratch space for current values: */
 	struct object_id oid, peeled;
 	struct strbuf refname_buf;
@@ -803,14 +827,35 @@ struct packed_ref_iterator {
  */
 static int next_record(struct packed_ref_iterator *iter)
 {
-	const char *p = iter->pos, *eol;
+	const char *p, *eol;
 
 	strbuf_reset(&iter->refname_buf);
 
+	/*
+	 * If iter->pos is contained within a skipped region, jump past
+	 * it.
+	 *
+	 * Note that each skipped region is considered at most once,
+	 * since they are ordered based on their starting position.
+	 */
+	while (iter->jump_cur < iter->jump_nr) {
+		struct jump_list_entry *curr = &iter->jump[iter->jump_cur];
+		if (iter->pos < curr->start)
+			break; /* not to the next jump yet */
+
+		iter->jump_cur++;
+		if (iter->pos < curr->end) {
+			iter->pos = curr->end;
+			/* jumps are coalesced, so only one jump is necessary */
+			break;
+		}
+	}
+
 	if (iter->pos == iter->eof)
 		return ITER_DONE;
 
 	iter->base.flags = REF_ISPACKED;
+	p = iter->pos;
 
 	if (iter->eof - p < the_hash_algo->hexsz + 2 ||
 	    parse_oid_hex(p, &iter->oid, &p) ||
@@ -918,6 +963,7 @@ static int packed_ref_iterator_abort(struct ref_iterator *ref_iterator)
 	int ok = ITER_DONE;
 
 	strbuf_release(&iter->refname_buf);
+	free(iter->jump);
 	release_snapshot(iter->snapshot);
 	base_ref_iterator_free(ref_iterator);
 	return ok;
@@ -929,6 +975,108 @@ static struct ref_iterator_vtable packed_ref_iterator_vtable = {
 	.abort = packed_ref_iterator_abort
 };
 
+static int jump_list_entry_cmp(const void *va, const void *vb)
+{
+	const struct jump_list_entry *a = va;
+	const struct jump_list_entry *b = vb;
+
+	if (a->start < b->start)
+		return -1;
+	if (a->start > b->start)
+		return 1;
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int has_glob_special(const char *str)
+{
+	const char *p;
+	for (p = str; *p; p++) {
+		if (is_glob_special(*p))
+			return 1;
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static void populate_excluded_jump_list(struct packed_ref_iterator *iter,
+					struct snapshot *snapshot,
+					const char **excluded_patterns)
+{
+	size_t i, j;
+	const char **pattern;
+	struct jump_list_entry *last_disjoint;
+
+	if (!excluded_patterns)
+		return;
+
+	for (pattern = excluded_patterns; *pattern; pattern++) {
+		struct jump_list_entry *e;
+		const char *start, *end;
+
+		/*
+		 * We can't feed any excludes with globs in them to the
+		 * refs machinery.  It only understands prefix matching.
+		 * We likewise can't even feed the string leading up to
+		 * the first meta-character, as something like "foo[a]"
+		 * should not exclude "foobar" (but the prefix "foo"
+		 * would match that and mark it for exclusion).
+		 */
+		if (has_glob_special(*pattern))
+			continue;
+
+		start = find_reference_location(snapshot, *pattern, 0);
+		end = find_reference_location_end(snapshot, *pattern, 0);
+
+		if (start == end)
+			continue; /* nothing to jump over */
+
+		ALLOC_GROW(iter->jump, iter->jump_nr + 1, iter->jump_alloc);
+
+		e = &iter->jump[iter->jump_nr++];
+		e->start = start;
+		e->end = end;
+	}
+
+	if (!iter->jump_nr) {
+		/*
+		 * Every entry in exclude_patterns has a meta-character,
+		 * nothing to do here.
+		 */
+		return;
+	}
+
+	QSORT(iter->jump, iter->jump_nr, jump_list_entry_cmp);
+
+	/*
+	 * As an optimization, merge adjacent entries in the jump list
+	 * to jump forwards as far as possible when entering a skipped
+	 * region.
+	 *
+	 * For example, if we have two skipped regions:
+	 *
+	 *	[[A, B], [B, C]]
+	 *
+	 * we want to combine that into a single entry jumping from A to
+	 * C.
+	 */
+	last_disjoint = iter->jump;
+
+	for (i = 1, j = 1; i < iter->jump_nr; i++) {
+		struct jump_list_entry *ours = &iter->jump[i];
+		if (ours->start <= last_disjoint->end) {
+			/* overlapping regions extend the previous one */
+			last_disjoint->end = last_disjoint->end > ours->end
+				? last_disjoint->end : ours->end;
+		} else {
+			/* otherwise, insert a new region */
+			iter->jump[j++] = *ours;
+			last_disjoint = ours;
+		}
+	}
+
+	iter->jump_nr = j;
+	iter->jump_cur = 0;
+}
+
 static struct ref_iterator *packed_ref_iterator_begin(
 		struct ref_store *ref_store,
 		const char *prefix, const char **exclude_patterns,
@@ -964,6 +1112,9 @@ static struct ref_iterator *packed_ref_iterator_begin(
 	ref_iterator = &iter->base;
 	base_ref_iterator_init(ref_iterator, &packed_ref_iterator_vtable, 1);
 
+	if (exclude_patterns)
+		populate_excluded_jump_list(iter, snapshot, exclude_patterns);
+
 	iter->snapshot = snapshot;
 	acquire_snapshot(snapshot);
 
diff --git a/t/helper/test-ref-store.c b/t/helper/test-ref-store.c
index fb18831ec2f..13865425dd1 100644
--- a/t/helper/test-ref-store.c
+++ b/t/helper/test-ref-store.c
@@ -186,6 +186,15 @@ static int cmd_for_each_ref(struct ref_store *refs, const char **argv)
 	return refs_for_each_ref_in(refs, prefix, each_ref, NULL);
 }
 
+static int cmd_for_each_ref__exclude(struct ref_store *refs, const char **argv)
+{
+	const char *prefix = notnull(*argv++, "prefix");
+	const char **exclude_patterns = argv;
+
+	return refs_for_each_fullref_in(refs, prefix, exclude_patterns, each_ref,
+					NULL);
+}
+
 static int cmd_resolve_ref(struct ref_store *refs, const char **argv)
 {
 	struct object_id oid = *null_oid();
@@ -318,6 +327,7 @@ static struct command commands[] = {
 	{ "delete-refs", cmd_delete_refs },
 	{ "rename-ref", cmd_rename_ref },
 	{ "for-each-ref", cmd_for_each_ref },
+	{ "for-each-ref--exclude", cmd_for_each_ref__exclude },
 	{ "resolve-ref", cmd_resolve_ref },
 	{ "verify-ref", cmd_verify_ref },
 	{ "for-each-reflog", cmd_for_each_reflog },
diff --git a/t/t1419-exclude-refs.sh b/t/t1419-exclude-refs.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..bc534c8ea18
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/t1419-exclude-refs.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+test_description='test exclude_patterns functionality in main ref store'
+
+GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME=main
+export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME
+
+TEST_PASSES_SANITIZE_LEAK=true
+. ./test-lib.sh
+
+for_each_ref__exclude () {
+	test-tool ref-store main for-each-ref--exclude "$@" >actual.raw
+	cut -d ' ' -f 2 actual.raw
+}
+
+for_each_ref () {
+	git for-each-ref --format='%(refname)' "$@"
+}
+
+test_expect_success 'setup' '
+	test_commit --no-tag base &&
+	base="$(git rev-parse HEAD)" &&
+
+	for name in foo bar baz quux
+	do
+		for i in 1 2 3
+		do
+			echo "create refs/heads/$name/$i $base" || return 1
+		done || return 1
+	done >in &&
+	echo "delete refs/heads/main" >>in &&
+
+	git update-ref --stdin <in &&
+	git pack-refs --all
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'excluded region in middle' '
+	for_each_ref__exclude refs/heads refs/heads/foo >actual &&
+	for_each_ref refs/heads/bar refs/heads/baz refs/heads/quux >expect &&
+
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'excluded region at beginning' '
+	for_each_ref__exclude refs/heads refs/heads/bar >actual &&
+	for_each_ref refs/heads/baz refs/heads/foo refs/heads/quux >expect &&
+
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'excluded region at end' '
+	for_each_ref__exclude refs/heads refs/heads/quux >actual &&
+	for_each_ref refs/heads/foo refs/heads/bar refs/heads/baz >expect &&
+
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'disjoint excluded regions' '
+	for_each_ref__exclude refs/heads refs/heads/bar refs/heads/quux >actual &&
+	for_each_ref refs/heads/baz refs/heads/foo >expect &&
+
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'adjacent, non-overlapping excluded regions' '
+	for_each_ref__exclude refs/heads refs/heads/bar refs/heads/baz >actual &&
+	for_each_ref refs/heads/foo refs/heads/quux >expect &&
+
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'overlapping excluded regions' '
+	for_each_ref__exclude refs/heads refs/heads/ba refs/heads/baz >actual &&
+	for_each_ref refs/heads/foo refs/heads/quux >expect &&
+
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'several overlapping excluded regions' '
+	for_each_ref__exclude refs/heads \
+		refs/heads/bar refs/heads/baz refs/heads/foo >actual &&
+	for_each_ref refs/heads/quux >expect &&
+
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'non-matching excluded section' '
+	for_each_ref__exclude refs/heads refs/heads/does/not/exist >actual &&
+	for_each_ref >expect &&
+
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'meta-characters are discarded' '
+	for_each_ref__exclude refs/heads "refs/heads/ba*" >actual &&
+	for_each_ref >expect &&
+
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_done
