diff --git a/lib/git/lib.rb b/lib/git/lib.rb
index 52fb2e6c..c93ac329 100644
--- a/lib/git/lib.rb
+++ b/lib/git/lib.rb
@@ -304,6 +304,18 @@ def ls_files(location=nil)
       hsh
     end
 
+    def ls_remote(location=nil)
+      Hash.new{ |h,k| h[k] = {} }.tap do |hsh|
+        command_lines('ls-remote', [location], false).each do |line|
+          (sha, info) = line.split("\t")
+          (ref, type, name) = info.split('/', 3)
+          type ||= 'head'
+          type = 'branches' if type == 'heads'
+          value = {:ref => ref, :sha => sha}
+          hsh[type].update( name.nil? ? value : { name => value })
+        end
+      end
+    end
 
     def ignored_files
       command_lines('ls-files', ['--others', '-i', '--exclude-standard'])
diff --git a/tests/units/test_lib.rb b/tests/units/test_lib.rb
index b2b4b499..57b36152 100644
--- a/tests/units/test_lib.rb
+++ b/tests/units/test_lib.rb
@@ -137,6 +137,23 @@ def test_ls_tree
     assert(tree['tree'])
   end
 
+  def test_ls_remote
+    in_temp_dir do |path|
+      lib = Git::Lib.new
+      ls = lib.ls_remote(@wbare)
+
+      assert_equal(%w( gitsearch1 v2.5 v2.6 v2.7 v2.8 ), ls['tags'].keys)
+      assert_equal("935badc874edd62a8629aaf103418092c73f0a56", ls['tags']['gitsearch1'][:sha])
+
+      assert_equal(%w( git_grep master test test_branches test_object ), ls['branches'].keys)
+      assert_equal("5e392652a881999392c2757cf9b783c5d47b67f7", ls['branches']['master'][:sha])
+
+      assert_equal("HEAD", ls['head'][:ref])
+      assert_equal("5e392652a881999392c2757cf9b783c5d47b67f7", ls['head'][:sha])
+      assert_equal(nil, ls['head'][:name])
+    end
+  end
+
 
   # options this will accept
   #  :treeish
@@ -165,4 +182,4 @@ def test_grep
     assert_equal(2, match.size)
   end
   
-end
\ No newline at end of file
+end