diff --git a/pungi/util.py b/pungi/util.py
index e7742cfc..0dfaeec0 100644
--- a/pungi/util.py
+++ b/pungi/util.py
@@ -309,8 +309,9 @@ def resolve_git_url(url):
 
 
 class GitUrlResolver(object):
-    """A wrapper for resolve_git_url that checks each url only once. In offline
-    mode it does not actually do anything, returning original input urls.
+    """A caching resolver for git references. As input it can either take repo
+    URL with fragment describing reference, or url and refname. It will return
+    either url with changed fragment or just resolved ref.
     """
     def __init__(self, offline=False):
         self.offline = offline
@@ -318,7 +319,7 @@ class GitUrlResolver(object):
 
     def __call__(self, url, branch=None):
         if self.offline:
-            return url
+            return branch or url
         key = (url, branch)
         if key not in self.cache:
             try:
diff --git a/tests/test_util.py b/tests/test_util.py
index b8a33d24..793d258a 100644
--- a/tests/test_util.py
+++ b/tests/test_util.py
@@ -130,14 +130,27 @@ class TestGitRefResolver(unittest.TestCase):
                          [mock.call(['git', 'ls-remote', 'https://git.example.com/repo.git', 'HEAD'],
                                     universal_newlines=True)] * 2)
 
+    @mock.patch("pungi.util.resolve_git_ref")
     @mock.patch("pungi.util.resolve_git_url")
-    def test_resolver_offline(self, mock_resolve):
+    def test_resolver_offline(self, mock_resolve_url, mock_resolve_ref):
         resolver = util.GitUrlResolver(offline=True)
         self.assertEqual(
             resolver("http://example.com/repo.git#HEAD"),
             "http://example.com/repo.git#HEAD",
         )
-        self.assertEqual(mock_resolve.call_args_list, [])
+        self.assertEqual(mock_resolve_url.call_args_list, [])
+        self.assertEqual(mock_resolve_ref.call_args_list, [])
+
+    @mock.patch("pungi.util.resolve_git_ref")
+    @mock.patch("pungi.util.resolve_git_url")
+    def test_resolver_offline_branch(self, mock_resolve_url, mock_resolve_ref):
+        resolver = util.GitUrlResolver(offline=True)
+        self.assertEqual(
+            resolver("http://example.com/repo.git", "master"),
+            "master",
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(mock_resolve_url.call_args_list, [])
+        self.assertEqual(mock_resolve_ref.call_args_list, [])
 
     @mock.patch("pungi.util.resolve_git_ref")
     @mock.patch("pungi.util.resolve_git_url")