--- a/hggit/git_handler.py
+++ b/hggit/git_handler.py
@@ -240,14 +240,10 @@
             old_refs.update(refs)
             to_push = set(self.local_heads().values() + self.tags.values())
             new_refs.update(self.get_changed_refs(refs, to_push, True))
-            # don't push anything
-            return {}
+            return refs # always return the same refs to make the send a no-op
 
         try:
-            try:
-                client.send_pack(path, changed, lambda have, want: [])
-            except UpdateRefsError:
-                pass # dulwich throws an error when send_pack doesn't upload
+            client.send_pack(path, changed, lambda have, want: [])
 
             changed_refs = [ref for ref, sha in new_refs.iteritems()
                             if sha != old_refs.get(ref)]

--- a/tests/test-outgoing.t
+++ b/tests/test-outgoing.t
@@ -35,6 +35,10 @@
   $ echo alpha > alpha
   $ git add alpha
   $ commit -m "add alpha"
+  $ git branch alpha
+  $ git show-ref
+  7eeab2ea75ec1ac0ff3d500b5b6f8a3447dd7c03 refs/heads/alpha
+  7eeab2ea75ec1ac0ff3d500b5b6f8a3447dd7c03 refs/heads/master
 
   $ cd ..
   $ hg clone gitrepo hgrepo | grep -v '^updating'
@@ -42,6 +46,7 @@
   1 files updated, 0 files merged, 0 files removed, 0 files unresolved
 
   $ cd hgrepo
+  $ hg update -q master
   $ echo beta > beta
   $ hg add beta
   $ hgcommit -m 'add beta'
@@ -99,6 +104,11 @@
   % some more work on master from git
   $ cd gitrepo
 
+Check state of refs after outgoing
+  $ git show-ref
+  7eeab2ea75ec1ac0ff3d500b5b6f8a3447dd7c03 refs/heads/alpha
+  7eeab2ea75ec1ac0ff3d500b5b6f8a3447dd7c03 refs/heads/master
+
   $ git checkout master 2>&1 | sed s/\'/\"/g
   Already on "master"
   $ echo delta > delta