diff --git a/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/supermanifest/SuperManifestRefUpdatedListener.java b/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/supermanifest/SuperManifestRefUpdatedListener.java
index c376050..2f1dfaa 100644
--- a/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/supermanifest/SuperManifestRefUpdatedListener.java
+++ b/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/supermanifest/SuperManifestRefUpdatedListener.java
@@ -403,11 +403,12 @@
         throws GitAPIException, IOException {
       Repository repo = openRepository(repoName);
       Ref r = repo.findRef(ref);
-      if (r == null || r.getObjectId() == null) {
+      ObjectId objectId = r == null ? repo.resolve(ref) : r.getObjectId();
+      if (objectId == null) {
         throw new RevisionSyntaxException(
             String.format("repo %s does not have ref %s", repo.toString(), ref), ref);
       }
-      RevCommit commit = repo.parseCommit(r.getObjectId());
+      RevCommit commit = repo.parseCommit(objectId);
       TreeWalk tw = TreeWalk.forPath(repo, path, commit.getTree());
       return new RemoteFile(
           tw.getObjectReader().open(tw.getObjectId(0)).getCachedBytes(Integer.MAX_VALUE),
diff --git a/javatests/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/supermanifest/RepoSuperManifestIT.java b/javatests/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/supermanifest/RepoSuperManifestIT.java
index 698da79..d340093 100644
--- a/javatests/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/supermanifest/RepoSuperManifestIT.java
+++ b/javatests/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/supermanifest/RepoSuperManifestIT.java
@@ -178,6 +178,57 @@
   }
 
   @Test
+  public void basicFunctionalityWorksWithCopyFileWithBareSha1() throws Exception {
+    setupTestRepos("project");
+
+    // Make sure the manifest exists so the configuration loads successfully.
+    Project.NameKey manifestKey = projectOperations.newProject().name(name("manifest")).create();
+    TestRepository<InMemoryRepository> manifestRepo = cloneProject(manifestKey, admin);
+
+    Project.NameKey superKey = projectOperations.newProject().name(name("superproject")).create();
+    cloneProject(superKey, admin);
+
+    pushConfig(
+        "[superproject \""
+            + superKey.get()
+            + ":refs/heads/destbranch\"]\n"
+            + "  srcRepo = "
+            + manifestKey.get()
+            + "\n"
+            + "  srcRef = refs/heads/srcbranch\n"
+            + "  srcPath = default.xml\n");
+
+    String remoteXml = "  <remote name=\"origin\" fetch=\"" + canonicalWebUrl.get() + "\" />\n";
+    String defaultXml = "  <default remote=\"origin\" revision=\"refs/heads/master\" />\n";
+    // XML change will trigger commit to superproject.
+    String xml =
+        "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>\n"
+            + "<manifest>\n"
+            + remoteXml
+            + defaultXml
+            + "  <project name=\""
+            + testRepoKeys[0].get()
+            + "\" path=\"project1\""
+            + " revision=\""
+            + testRepoCommits[0]
+            + "\""
+            + ">\n"
+            + "<copyfile src=\"file0\" dest=\"dest\" />"
+            + "</project>\n"
+            + "</manifest>\n";
+
+    pushFactory
+        .create(admin.newIdent(), manifestRepo, "Subject", "default.xml", xml)
+        .to("refs/heads/srcbranch")
+        .assertOkStatus();
+
+    BranchApi branch = gApi.projects().name(superKey.get()).branch("refs/heads/destbranch");
+    assertThat(branch.file("project1").getContentType()).isEqualTo("x-git/gitlink; charset=UTF-8");
+    assertThat(branch.file("dest").asString()).isEqualTo("file");
+    assertThrows(ResourceNotFoundException.class, () -> branch.file("project2"));
+  }
+
+  @Test
   public void httpEndpoint() throws Exception {
     setupTestRepos("project");