diff --git a/builtin/push.c b/builtin/push.c
index 8260c6e46a..7a67398124 100644
--- a/builtin/push.c
+++ b/builtin/push.c
@@ -96,9 +96,8 @@ static void refspec_append_mapped(struct refspec *refspec, const char *ref,
 	refspec_append(refspec, ref);
 }
 
-static void set_refspecs(const char **refs, int nr, const char *repo)
+static void set_refspecs(const char **refs, int nr, struct remote *remote)
 {
-	struct remote *remote = NULL;
 	struct ref *local_refs = NULL;
 	int i;
 
@@ -124,17 +123,10 @@ static void set_refspecs(const char **refs, int nr, const char *repo)
 				local_refs = get_local_heads();
 
 			/* Does "ref" uniquely name our ref? */
-			if (count_refspec_match(ref, local_refs, &matched) != 1) {
+			if (count_refspec_match(ref, local_refs, &matched) != 1)
 				refspec_append(&rs, ref);
-			} else {
-				/* lazily grab remote */
-				if (!remote)
-					remote = remote_get(repo);
-				if (!remote)
-					BUG("must get a remote for repo '%s'", repo);
-
+			else
 				refspec_append_mapped(&rs, ref, remote, matched);
-			}
 		} else
 			refspec_append(&rs, ref);
 	}
@@ -630,10 +622,8 @@ int cmd_push(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (tags)
 		refspec_append(&rs, "refs/tags/*");
 
-	if (argc > 0) {
+	if (argc > 0)
 		repo = argv[0];
-		set_refspecs(argv + 1, argc - 1, repo);
-	}
 
 	remote = pushremote_get(repo);
 	if (!remote) {
@@ -649,6 +639,9 @@ int cmd_push(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		    "    git push <name>\n"));
 	}
 
+	if (argc > 0)
+		set_refspecs(argv + 1, argc - 1, remote);
+
 	if (remote->mirror)
 		flags |= (TRANSPORT_PUSH_MIRROR|TRANSPORT_PUSH_FORCE);
 
diff --git a/t/t5529-push-errors.sh b/t/t5529-push-errors.sh
index 0247137cb3..17d7257892 100755
--- a/t/t5529-push-errors.sh
+++ b/t/t5529-push-errors.sh
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 
 test_description='detect some push errors early (before contacting remote)'
 
+GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME=main
+export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME
+
 TEST_PASSES_SANITIZE_LEAK=true
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
@@ -38,6 +41,20 @@ test_expect_success 'detect missing sha1 expressions early' '
 	test_cmp expect rp-ran
 '
 
+# We use an existing local_ref, since it follows a different flow in
+# 'builtin/push.c:set_refspecs()' and we want to test that regression.
+test_expect_success 'detect empty remote with existing local ref' '
+	test_must_fail git push "" main 2> stderr &&
+	grep "fatal: bad repository ${SQ}${SQ}" stderr
+'
+
+# While similar to the previous test, here we want to ensure that
+# even targeted refspecs are handled.
+test_expect_success 'detect empty remote with targeted refspec' '
+	test_must_fail git push "" HEAD:refs/heads/main 2> stderr &&
+	grep "fatal: bad repository ${SQ}${SQ}" stderr
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'detect ambiguous refs early' '
 	git branch foo &&
 	git tag foo &&