diff --git a/c_src/geef.c b/c_src/geef.c
index 8a1dea5..3d820f0 100644
--- a/c_src/geef.c
+++ b/c_src/geef.c
@@ -154,6 +154,7 @@ static ErlNifFunc geef_funcs[] =
 	{"reference_type", 1, geef_reference_type},
 	{"reference_name", 1, geef_reference_name},
 	{"reference_create", 5, geef_reference_create},
+	{"reference_dwim", 2,   geef_reference_dwim},
 	{"oid_fmt", 1, geef_oid_fmt},
 	{"oid_parse", 1, geef_oid_parse},
 	{"object_lookup", 2, geef_object_lookup},
diff --git a/c_src/reference.c b/c_src/reference.c
index 7f09e64..14a69d5 100644
--- a/c_src/reference.c
+++ b/c_src/reference.c
@@ -94,6 +94,35 @@ geef_reference_resolve(ErlNifEnv *env, int argc, const ERL_NIF_TERM argv[])
 	return enif_make_tuple2(env, atoms.ok, term_ref);
 }
 
+ERL_NIF_TERM
+geef_reference_dwim(ErlNifEnv *env, int argc, const ERL_NIF_TERM argv[])
+{
+	ErlNifBinary bin;
+	geef_ref *ref;
+	ERL_NIF_TERM term_ref;
+	geef_repository *repo;
+
+	if (!enif_get_resource(env, argv[0], geef_repository_type, (void **) &repo))
+		return enif_make_badarg(env);
+
+	if (!enif_inspect_iolist_as_binary(env, argv[1], &bin))
+		return enif_make_badarg(env);
+
+	if (!geef_terminate_binary(&bin))
+		return geef_oom(env);
+
+	ref = enif_alloc_resource(geef_ref_type, sizeof(geef_ref));
+	if (git_reference_dwim(&ref->ref, repo->repo, (char *)bin.data) < 0) {
+		enif_release_binary(&bin);
+		return geef_error(env);
+	}
+
+	term_ref = enif_make_resource(env, ref);
+	enif_release_resource(ref);
+
+	return enif_make_tuple2(env, atoms.ok, term_ref);
+}
+
 void geef_ref_free(ErlNifEnv *env, void *cd)
 {
 	geef_ref *ref = (geef_ref *) cd;
diff --git a/c_src/reference.h b/c_src/reference.h
index 51594a2..76bd161 100644
--- a/c_src/reference.h
+++ b/c_src/reference.h
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ ERL_NIF_TERM geef_reference_target(ErlNifEnv *env, int argc, const ERL_NIF_TERM
 ERL_NIF_TERM geef_reference_type(ErlNifEnv *env, int argc, const ERL_NIF_TERM argv[]);
 ERL_NIF_TERM geef_reference_name(ErlNifEnv *env, int argc, const ERL_NIF_TERM argv[]);
 ERL_NIF_TERM geef_reference_create(ErlNifEnv *env, int argc, const ERL_NIF_TERM argv[]);
+ERL_NIF_TERM geef_reference_dwim(ErlNifEnv *env, int argc, const ERL_NIF_TERM argv[]);
 
 void geef_ref_free(ErlNifEnv *env, void *cd);
 
diff --git a/lib/geef/reference.ex b/lib/geef/reference.ex
index 521ebb2..ba254d9 100644
--- a/lib/geef/reference.ex
+++ b/lib/geef/reference.ex
@@ -37,4 +37,20 @@ defrecord Geef.Reference, Record.extract(:geef_reference, from: "src/geef_record
     end
   end
 
+  def dwim(repo, name) do
+    case :geef_ref.dwim(repo, name) do
+      {:ok, ref} ->
+        {:ok, Geef.Reference.new ref}
+      error ->
+        error
+    end
+  end
+
+  def dwim!(repo, name) do
+    case dwim(repo, name) do
+      {:ok, ref} -> ref
+      {:error, err} -> raise err
+    end
+  end
+
 end
diff --git a/src/geef_nif.erl b/src/geef_nif.erl
index dba27bc..da26314 100644
--- a/src/geef_nif.erl
+++ b/src/geef_nif.erl
@@ -62,6 +62,9 @@ reference_type(_Handle) ->
 reference_name(_Handle) ->
     nif_error(?LINE).
 
+reference_dwim(_Handle, _Name) ->
+    ?NIF_FN.
+
 odb_object_exists(_Val, _Val) ->
     nif_error(?LINE).
 
diff --git a/src/geef_ref.erl b/src/geef_ref.erl
index a129ac3..ef52580 100644
--- a/src/geef_ref.erl
+++ b/src/geef_ref.erl
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 -module(geef_ref).
 
--export([lookup/2, resolve/1, create/4]).
+-export([lookup/2, resolve/1, create/4, dwim/2]).
 
 -include("geef_records.hrl").
 
@@ -42,3 +42,13 @@ resolve(#geef_reference{handle=Handle}) ->
 	Other ->
 	    Other
     end.
+
+-spec dwim(pid(), iolist()) -> {ok, geef_reference()} | {error, term()}.
+dwim(Repo, Name) ->
+    case geef_repo:reference_dwim(Repo, Name) of
+	{ok, Handle} ->
+	    {ok, FullName} = geef_nif:reference_name(Handle),
+	    {ok, new(FullName, Handle)};
+	Err ->
+	    Err
+    end.
diff --git a/src/geef_repo.erl b/src/geef_repo.erl
index 817d072..1050ecb 100644
--- a/src/geef_repo.erl
+++ b/src/geef_repo.erl
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@
 
 %% API
 -export([open/1, init/2, path/1, workdir/1, odb/1, is_bare/1, references/1, discover/1,
-	 lookup_object/2, lookup_reference/2, create_reference/4, revwalk/1, stop/1, handle/1]).
+	 lookup_object/2, lookup_reference/2, create_reference/4, revwalk/1, stop/1,
+	 reference_dwim/2, handle/1]).
 
 -include("geef_records.hrl").
 -record(state, {handle}).
@@ -85,6 +86,10 @@ lookup_object(Pid, Oid) ->
 lookup_reference(Pid, Name) ->
     gen_server:call(Pid, {lookup_reference, Name}).
 
+%% @private
+reference_dwim(Pid, Name) ->
+    gen_server:call(Pid, {dwim_reference, Name}).
+
 %% @private
 create_reference(Pid, Name, Target, Force) ->
     gen_server:call(Pid, {create_reference, Name, Target, Force}).
@@ -131,6 +136,9 @@ handle_call({lookup_object, Oid}, _From, State = #state{handle=Handle}) ->
 handle_call({lookup_reference, Name}, _From, State = #state{handle=Handle}) ->
     Reply = geef_nif:reference_lookup(Handle, Name),
     {reply, Reply, State};
+handle_call({dwim_reference, Name}, _From, State = #state{handle=Handle}) ->
+    Reply = geef_nif:reference_dwim(Handle, Name),
+    {reply, Reply, State};
 handle_call({create_reference, Name, Target, Force}, _From, State = #state{handle=Handle}) ->
     Reply = handle_create_reference(Handle, Name, Target, Force),
     {reply, Reply, State};
diff --git a/test/repo_test.erl b/test/repo_test.erl
index 711b39b..64b2dfc 100644
--- a/test/repo_test.erl
+++ b/test/repo_test.erl
@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@
 
 repo_test_() ->
     {foreach, fun start/0, fun stop/1, [fun bare_test/1, fun odb_write_test/1,
-					fun create_ref_test/1, fun index_add_test/1]}.
+					fun create_ref_test/1, fun index_add_test/1,
+					fun dwim_ref_test/1]}.
 
 start() ->
     {A, B, C} = now(),
@@ -45,6 +46,15 @@ create_ref_test(Repo) ->
     [?_assertEqual(Ref0#geef_reference.target, Id),
      ?_assertEqual(Ref1#geef_reference.target, <<"refs/heads/branch">>)].
 
+dwim_ref_test(Repo) ->
+    odb_write_test(Repo),
+    Id = geef_oid:parse("c300118399f01fe52b316061b5d32beb27e0adfd"),
+    {ok, _} = geef_ref:create(Repo, "refs/heads/branch", Id, true),
+    {ok, Branch} = geef_ref:dwim(Repo, "branch"),
+    Actual = Branch#geef_reference.name,
+    Expected = <<"refs/heads/branch">>,
+    [?_assertEqual(Actual, Expected)].
+
 rm_r(Path) ->
     case filelib:is_dir(Path) of
 	false ->