SYNOPSIS
 --------
-'git-symbolic-ref' <name> [<ref>]
+'git-symbolic-ref' [-q] <name> [<ref>]
 
 DESCRIPTION
 -----------
 begins with `ref: refs/`.  For example, your `.git/HEAD` is
 a regular file whose contents is `ref: refs/heads/master`.
 
+OPTIONS
+-------
+
+-q::
+       Do not issue an error message if the <name> is not a
+       symbolic ref but a detached HEAD; instead exit with
+       non-zero status silently.
+
 NOTES
 -----
 In the past, `.git/HEAD` was a symbolic link pointing at
 
 #include "refs.h"
 
 static const char git_symbolic_ref_usage[] =
-"git-symbolic-ref name [ref]";
+"git-symbolic-ref [-q] name [ref]";
 
-static void check_symref(const char *HEAD)
+static void check_symref(const char *HEAD, int quiet)
 {
        unsigned char sha1[20];
        int flag;
 
        if (!refs_heads_master)
                die("No such ref: %s", HEAD);
-       else if (!(flag & REF_ISSYMREF))
-               die("ref %s is not a symbolic ref", HEAD);
+       else if (!(flag & REF_ISSYMREF)) {
+               if (!quiet)
+                       die("ref %s is not a symbolic ref", HEAD);
+               else
+                       exit(1);
+       }
        puts(refs_heads_master);
 }
 
 int cmd_symbolic_ref(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 {
+       int quiet = 0;
+
        git_config(git_default_config);
+
+       while (1 < argc) {
+               const char *arg = argv[1];
+               if (arg[0] != '-')
+                       break;
+               else if (!strcmp("-q", arg))
+                       quiet = 1;
+               else if (!strcmp("--", arg)) {
+                       argc--;
+                       argv++;
+                       break;
+               }
+               else
+                       die("unknown option %s", arg);
+               argc--;
+               argv++;
+       }
+
        switch (argc) {
        case 2:
-               check_symref(argv[1]);
+               check_symref(argv[1], quiet);
                break;
        case 3:
                create_symref(argv[1], argv[2]);
 
 }
 
 get_default_remote () {
-       curr_branch=$(git-symbolic-ref HEAD | sed -e 's|^refs/heads/||')
+       curr_branch=$(git-symbolic-ref -q HEAD | sed -e 's|^refs/heads/||')
        origin=$(git-repo-config --get "branch.$curr_branch.remote")
        echo ${origin:-origin}
 }
                shift
                if test "$remote" = "$(get_default_remote)"
                then
-                       curr_branch=$(git-symbolic-ref HEAD | \
+                       curr_branch=$(git-symbolic-ref -q HEAD | \
                            sed -e 's|^refs/heads/||')
                        merge_branches=$(git-repo-config \
                            --get-all "branch.${curr_branch}.merge")