# git fetch second argument parsing inconsistency

1 messages from 2026-04-15 to 2026-04-15. Participants: Alix Brunet.
Thread: https://gitlist.dev/t/65485

## Alix Brunet, 2026-04-15 00:05

Subject: git fetch second argument parsing inconsistency
Message-ID: <CAPCeX5b0T6WOnr-aCWV0CfMvPSk0KgzbnshgYgREELWjdGe=hw@mail.gmail.com>

```
Hello team.

I just "discovered" that the git fetch second argument parsing is
inconsistent

`git fetch <url>` silently fails, but `git fetch <url> ""` fetches the
default branch

I quoted "discovered" because imagine this might have been discovered
before, but it took me too long to figure out, and the docs page (
https://git-scm.com/docs/git-fetch ) doesn't mention it either.

I figure this is either an unwanted behavior, an error that should not be
silent, or at the very least something that needs documentation.

Sincerely,
Malix - https://github.com/Malix-Labs

```