diff --git a/builtin/fetch.c b/builtin/fetch.c
index 80a64d0d26..1c59e1c256 100644
--- a/builtin/fetch.c
+++ b/builtin/fetch.c
@@ -463,6 +463,7 @@ static void filter_prefetch_refspec(struct refspec *rs)
 				rs->raw[j - 1] = rs->raw[j];
 			}
 			rs->nr--;
+			rs->raw_nr--;
 			i--;
 			continue;
 		}
diff --git a/t/t5582-fetch-negative-refspec.sh b/t/t5582-fetch-negative-refspec.sh
index 7fa54a4029..b21bf2057d 100755
--- a/t/t5582-fetch-negative-refspec.sh
+++ b/t/t5582-fetch-negative-refspec.sh
@@ -283,4 +283,8 @@ test_expect_success '--prefetch succeeds when refspec becomes empty' '
 	git -C one fetch --prefetch
 '
 
+test_expect_success '--prefetch succeeds with empty command line refspec' '
+	git -C one fetch --prefetch origin +refs/tags/extra
+'
+
 test_done