diff --git a/doc/source/changes.rst b/doc/source/changes.rst
index c8c71e9f8..6758d4e07 100644
--- a/doc/source/changes.rst
+++ b/doc/source/changes.rst
@@ -50,6 +50,11 @@ Git executable and safety
   Text and streamed command output preserve undecodable bytes with
   ``surrogateescape``, including fetch/push results, clone errors and timeout
   diagnostics containing byte names.
+* Reference reads on the Git CLI backend use exact names. A missing reference no
+  longer resolves through Git's revision guessing to a look-alike name such as a
+  tag called ``refs/heads/main``: an unborn ``HEAD`` is reported as invalid, the
+  first commit on it has no parent, and ``Repo.currently_rebasing_on()`` ignores a
+  tag named ``REBASE_HEAD``. This matches the Gix backend.
 
 API changes
 -----------
diff --git a/git/refs/symbolic.py b/git/refs/symbolic.py
index 68552f672..1128bf797 100644
--- a/git/refs/symbolic.py
+++ b/git/refs/symbolic.py
@@ -197,8 +197,11 @@ def _get_ref_info_helper(
         except GitCommandError as exc:
             if exc.status != 1:
                 raise ValueError("Invalid symbolic reference %r" % path) from exc
+        # `rev-parse --verify` applies Git's name-guessing rules, so a missing
+        # `refs/heads/x` would resolve to a tag named `refs/heads/x`. Read the
+        # exact reference instead, which is what the native lookup does.
         try:
-            oid = repo.git._call_process_safe("rev_parse", "--verify", "--end-of-options", path)
+            oid = repo.git._call_process_safe("show_ref", "--verify", "--hash", "--", path)
         except GitCommandError as exc:
             raise ValueError("Reference at %r does not exist or is invalid" % path) from exc
         if not repo.re_hexsha_only.fullmatch(oid):
diff --git a/git/repo/base.py b/git/repo/base.py
index 0de87d01c..be64230bd 100644
--- a/git/repo/base.py
+++ b/git/repo/base.py
@@ -1964,11 +1964,13 @@ def currently_rebasing_on(self) -> Commit | None:
         """
         if not self.git_dir:
             return None
-        status, oid, stderr = self.git._call_process_safe(
-            "rev_parse", "--verify", "--quiet", "REBASE_HEAD", with_extended_output=True, with_exceptions=False
+        # Read the pseudo-reference by its exact name: `rev-parse --verify` would
+        # also accept a tag named `REBASE_HEAD` while no rebase is in progress.
+        status, _, stderr = self.git._call_process_safe(
+            "show_ref", "--exists", "--", "REBASE_HEAD", with_extended_output=True, with_exceptions=False
         )
-        if status == 1:
+        if status == 2:
             return None
         if status:
-            raise GitCommandError("git rev-parse", status, stderr, oid)
-        return self.commit(oid)
+            raise GitCommandError("git show-ref", status, stderr)
+        return self.commit(self.git._call_process_safe("show_ref", "--verify", "--hash", "--", "REBASE_HEAD"))
diff --git a/test/test_refs.py b/test/test_refs.py
index 1e47101c1..de0e0ac2a 100644
--- a/test/test_refs.py
+++ b/test/test_refs.py
@@ -1134,6 +1134,29 @@ def test_custom_symbolic_reference_names_do_not_recurse_during_construction(self
                 with self.assertRaises(ValueError):
                     ref.set_object(self.next_commit)
 
+    def test_missing_references_do_not_resolve_to_look_alike_names(self):
+        with self.fixture("lookalike"):
+            # Git's revision guessing finds the tag, but no such branch exists.
+            self.assertEqual(self.repo.git.rev_parse("--verify", "refs/heads/missing"), self.commit.hexsha)
+            self.assertEqual(self.repo.git.symbolic_ref("HEAD"), "refs/heads/missing")
+            for backend in (_backend.gix, None):
+                with patch.object(_backend, "gix", backend):
+                    with self.assertRaisesRegex(ValueError, "does not exist"):
+                        SymbolicReference._get_ref_info(self.repo, "refs/heads/missing")
+                    self.assertFalse(self.repo.head.is_valid())
+                    self.assertFalse(Head(self.repo, "refs/heads/missing").is_valid())
+                    self.assertEqual(self.repo.tags["refs/heads/missing"].commit, self.commit)
+                    self.assertEqual(self.repo.tags["REBASE_HEAD"].commit, self.commit)
+                    self.assertIsNone(self.repo.currently_rebasing_on())
+
+    def test_commit_on_unborn_head_ignores_look_alike_tag(self):
+        with self.fixture("lookalike", write=True):
+            with patch.object(_backend, "gix", None):
+                commit = self.repo.index.commit("root")
+            self.assertEqual(commit.parents, [])
+            self.assertEqual(self.repo.head.commit, commit)
+            self.assertEqual(self.repo.git.rev_parse("--verify", "refs/heads/missing"), commit.hexsha)
+
     def test_reference_reads_reject_symlinks_outside_repository(self):
         with self.fixture("external"):
             with self.assertRaisesRegex(ValueError, "escapes the repository"):
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/reference-security.sh b/tests/fixtures/reference-security.sh
index e90deec97..969f71d4a 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/reference-security.sh
+++ b/tests/fixtures/reference-security.sh
@@ -40,6 +40,12 @@ case "$1" in
             write_ref "$terminal" 'ref: refs/heads/link-1'
         fi
         ;;
+    lookalike)
+        # Valid names Git's revision guessing would accept for missing references.
+        git tag refs/heads/missing "$initial"
+        git tag REBASE_HEAD "$initial"
+        write_ref HEAD 'ref: refs/heads/missing'
+        ;;
     custom)
         write_ref CUSTOM_A 'ref: CUSTOM_B'
         write_ref CUSTOM_B 'ref: CUSTOM_A'