diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/client/FetchRestApiClient.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/client/FetchRestApiClient.java
index 8531b0a..e682b71 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/client/FetchRestApiClient.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/client/FetchRestApiClient.java
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 import static com.google.common.net.HttpHeaders.CONTENT_TYPE;
 import static com.google.gson.FieldNamingPolicy.LOWER_CASE_WITH_UNDERSCORES;
 import static java.util.Objects.requireNonNull;
-import static java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS;
 
 import com.google.common.base.Strings;
 import com.google.common.flogger.FluentLogger;
@@ -46,7 +45,6 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 import org.apache.http.HttpHeaders;
@@ -153,62 +151,27 @@
     return executeRequest(post, bearerTokenProvider.get(), targetUri);
   }
 
-  private Map<Boolean, List<String>> partitionRefsToAsyncAndSync(List<String> refsInBatch) {
-    return refsInBatch.stream()
-        .collect(
-            Collectors.partitioningBy(
-                refName -> !syncRefsFilter.match(refName),
-                Collectors.mapping(
-                    refName ->
-                        String.format(
-                            "{\"label\":\"%s\", \"ref_name\": \"%s\", \"async\":%s}",
-                            instanceId, refName, !syncRefsFilter.match(refName)),
-                    Collectors.toList())));
+  private Boolean containsSyncFetchRef(List<String> refsInBatch) {
+    return refsInBatch.stream().anyMatch(syncRefsFilter::match);
   }
 
   @Override
   public HttpResult callBatchFetch(
       NameKey project, List<String> refsInBatch, URIish targetUri, long startTimeNanos)
       throws IOException {
-    Map<Boolean, List<String>> refsPartitionedInAsyncAndSync =
-        partitionRefsToAsyncAndSync(refsInBatch);
-    boolean async = true;
-    List<String> asyncRefs = refsPartitionedInAsyncAndSync.get(async);
-    List<String> syncRefs = refsPartitionedInAsyncAndSync.get(!async);
-
-    if (asyncRefs.isEmpty() && syncRefs.isEmpty()) {
-      throw new IllegalArgumentException(
-          "At least one ref should be provided during a batch-fetch operation");
-    }
+    boolean callAsync = !containsSyncFetchRef(refsInBatch);
+    String msgBody =
+        refsInBatch.stream()
+            .map(
+                refName ->
+                    String.format(
+                        "{\"label\":\"%s\", \"ref_name\": \"%s\", \"async\":%s}",
+                        instanceId, refName, callAsync))
+            .collect(Collectors.joining(","));
 
     String url = formatUrl(targetUri.toString(), project, "batch-fetch");
-
-    if (asyncRefs.isEmpty()) {
-      HttpPost syncPost =
-          createPostRequest(url, "[" + String.join(",", syncRefs) + "]", startTimeNanos);
-      return executeRequest(syncPost, bearerTokenProvider.get(), targetUri);
-    }
-    if (syncRefs.isEmpty()) {
-      HttpPost asyncPost =
-          createPostRequest(url, "[" + String.join(",", asyncRefs) + "]", startTimeNanos);
-      return executeRequest(asyncPost, bearerTokenProvider.get(), targetUri);
-    }
-
-    // first execute for async refs, then for sync
-    HttpPost asyncPost =
-        createPostRequest(url, "[" + String.join(",", asyncRefs) + "]", startTimeNanos);
-    HttpResult asyncResult = executeRequest(asyncPost, bearerTokenProvider.get(), targetUri);
-
-    if (asyncResult.isSuccessful()) {
-      HttpPost syncPost =
-          createPostRequest(
-              url,
-              "[" + String.join(",", syncRefs) + "]",
-              MILLISECONDS.toNanos(System.currentTimeMillis()));
-      return executeRequest(syncPost, bearerTokenProvider.get(), targetUri);
-    }
-
-    return asyncResult;
+    HttpPost post = createPostRequest(url, "[" + msgBody + "]", startTimeNanos);
+    return executeRequest(post, bearerTokenProvider.get(), targetUri);
   }
 
   private HttpPost createPostRequest(String url, String msgBody, long startTimeNanos) {
diff --git a/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md b/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md
index ed0c5e7..acc636b 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md
+++ b/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md
@@ -615,7 +615,11 @@
 	over, this value should be set to `true` to leverage the
 	performance improvements introduced by the `batch-apply-object` API.
 
-	By default, false.
+>	*NOTE*: if any ref from a single batch matches `replication.syncRefs`
+>	filter, all refs in that batch are going to be fetched synchronously as
+>	a single git fetch operation.
+>
+>	By default, false.
 
 Directory `replication`
 --------------------
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/client/FetchRestApiClientBase.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/client/FetchRestApiClientBase.java
index 087920b..e9e28ed 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/client/FetchRestApiClientBase.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/client/FetchRestApiClientBase.java
@@ -360,8 +360,7 @@
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void shouldExecuteOneFetchCallForAsyncAndOneForSyncRefsDuringBatchFetch()
-      throws Exception {
+  public void shouldMarkAllRefsAsSyncWhenTheBatchContainsAtLeastOneSyncRef() throws Exception {
 
     when(config.getStringList("replication", null, "syncRefs"))
         .thenReturn(new String[] {"^refs\\/heads\\/test"});
@@ -380,48 +379,20 @@
             source);
     objectUnderTest.callBatchFetch(Project.nameKey("test_repo"), refs, new URIish(api));
 
-    verify(httpClient, times(2)).execute(httpPostCaptor.capture(), any());
-
-    List<HttpPost> httpPosts = httpPostCaptor.getAllValues();
-    String expectedSyncPayload =
-        "[{\"label\":\"Replication\", \"ref_name\": \""
-            + refs.get(1)
-            + "\", \"async\":false}"
-            + "]";
-    String expectedAsyncPayload =
-        "[{\"label\":\"Replication\", \"ref_name\": \"" + refName + "\", \"async\":true}]";
-
-    assertThat(readPayload(httpPosts.get(0))).isEqualTo(expectedAsyncPayload);
-    assertThat(readPayload(httpPosts.get(1))).isEqualTo(expectedSyncPayload);
-  }
-
-  @Test
-  public void shouldNotExecuteSyncFetchCallWhenAsyncCallFailsDuringBatchFetch() throws Exception {
-    when(config.getStringList("replication", null, "syncRefs"))
-        .thenReturn(new String[] {"^refs\\/heads\\/test"});
-    when(httpClient.execute(any(), any())).thenReturn(new HttpResult(500, Optional.of("BOOM")));
-    syncRefsFilter = new SyncRefsFilter(replicationConfig);
-    String testRef = RefNames.REFS_HEADS + "test";
-    List<String> refs = List.of(refName, testRef);
-    objectUnderTest =
-        new FetchRestApiClient(
-            credentials,
-            httpClientFactory,
-            replicationConfig,
-            syncRefsFilter,
-            pluginName,
-            instanceId,
-            bearerTokenProvider,
-            source);
-    objectUnderTest.callBatchFetch(Project.nameKey("test_repo"), refs, new URIish(api));
-
     verify(httpClient, times(1)).execute(httpPostCaptor.capture(), any());
 
-    HttpPost httpPost = httpPostCaptor.getValue();
-    String expectedAsyncPayload =
-        "[{\"label\":\"Replication\", \"ref_name\": \"" + refName + "\", \"async\":true}]";
+    HttpPost httpPosts = httpPostCaptor.getValue();
+    String expectedSyncPayload =
+        "["
+            + "{\"label\":\"Replication\", \"ref_name\": \""
+            + refName
+            + "\", \"async\":false},"
+            + "{\"label\":\"Replication\", \"ref_name\": \""
+            + refs.get(1)
+            + "\", \"async\":false}"
+            + "]";
 
-    assertThat(readPayload(httpPost)).isEqualTo(expectedAsyncPayload);
+    assertThat(readPayload(httpPosts)).isEqualTo(expectedSyncPayload);
   }
 
   @Test