@@ -548,7 +548,6 @@ int cmd_tag(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	struct strbuf ref = STRBUF_INIT;
 	unsigned char object[20], prev[20];
 	const char *object_ref, *tag;
-	struct ref_lock *lock;
 	struct create_tag_options opt;
 	char *cleanup_arg = NULL;
 	int annotate = 0, force = 0, lines = -1;

@@ -556,6 +555,8 @@ int cmd_tag(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	const char *msgfile = NULL, *keyid = NULL;
 	struct msg_arg msg = { 0, STRBUF_INIT };
 	struct commit_list *with_commit = NULL;
+	struct ref_transaction *transaction;
+	struct strbuf err = STRBUF_INIT;
 	struct option options[] = {
 		OPT_CMDMODE('l', "list", &cmdmode, N_("list tag names"), 'l'),
 		{ OPTION_INTEGER, 'n', NULL, &lines, N_("n"),

@@ -701,11 +702,13 @@ int cmd_tag(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (annotate)
 		create_tag(object, tag, &buf, &opt, prev, object);
 
-	lock = lock_any_ref_for_update(ref.buf, prev, 0, NULL);
-	if (!lock)
-		die(_("%s: cannot lock the ref"), ref.buf);
-	if (write_ref_sha1(lock, object, NULL) < 0)
-		die(_("%s: cannot update the ref"), ref.buf);
+	transaction = ref_transaction_begin(&err);
+	if (!transaction ||
+	    ref_transaction_update(transaction, ref.buf, object, prev,
+				   0, 1, &err) ||
+	    ref_transaction_commit(transaction, NULL, &err))
+		die("%s", err.buf);
+	ref_transaction_free(transaction);
 	if (force && !is_null_sha1(prev) && hashcmp(prev, object))
 		printf(_("Updated tag '%s' (was %s)\n"), tag, find_unique_abbrev(prev, DEFAULT_ABBREV));