diff --git a/builtin/stash--helper.c b/builtin/stash--helper.c
index cbe23fef11..dadc028649 100644
--- a/builtin/stash--helper.c
+++ b/builtin/stash--helper.c

@@ -535,6 +541,42 @@ static int drop_stash(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	return ret;
 }
 
+static int branch_stash(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
+{
+	const char *branch = NULL;
+	int ret;
+	struct child_process cp = CHILD_PROCESS_INIT;
+	struct stash_info info;
+	struct option options[] = {
+		OPT_END()
+	};
+
+	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options,
+			     git_stash_helper_branch_usage, 0);
+
+	if (!argc)
+		return error(_("No branch name specified"));

+
+	branch = argv[0];
+
+	if (get_stash_info(&info, argc - 1, argv + 1))
+		return -1;
+
+	cp.git_cmd = 1;
+	argv_array_pushl(&cp.args, "checkout", "-b", NULL);
+	argv_array_push(&cp.args, branch);
+	argv_array_push(&cp.args, oid_to_hex(&info.b_commit));
+	ret = run_command(&cp);
+	if (!ret)
+		ret = do_apply_stash(prefix, &info, 1);
+	if (!ret && info.is_stash_ref)
+		ret = do_drop_stash(prefix, &info);
+
+	free_stash_info(&info);
+
+	return ret;
+}
+
 int cmd_stash__helper(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 {
 	pid_t pid = getpid();

@@ -561,6 +603,8 @@ int cmd_stash__helper(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		return !!clear_stash(argc, argv, prefix);
 	else if (!strcmp(argv[0], "drop"))
 		return !!drop_stash(argc, argv, prefix);
+	else if (!strcmp(argv[0], "branch"))
+		return !!branch_stash(argc, argv, prefix);
 
 	usage_msg_opt(xstrfmt(_("unknown subcommand: %s"), argv[0]),
 		      git_stash_helper_usage, options);

diff --git a/git-stash.sh b/git-stash.sh
index a99d5dc9e5..29d9f44255 100755
--- a/git-stash.sh
+++ b/git-stash.sh

@@ -598,20 +598,6 @@ drop_stash () {
 	clear_stash
 }
 
-apply_to_branch () {
-	test -n "$1" || die "$(gettext "No branch name specified")"
-	branch=$1
-	shift 1
-
-	set -- --index "$@"
-	assert_stash_like "$@"
-
-	git checkout -b $branch $REV^ &&
-	apply_stash "$@" && {
-		test -z "$IS_STASH_REF" || drop_stash "$@"
-	}
-}
-
 test "$1" = "-p" && set "push" "$@"
 
 PARSE_CACHE='--not-parsed'

@@ -673,7 +659,8 @@ pop)
 	;;
 branch)
 	shift
-	apply_to_branch "$@"
+	cd "$START_DIR"
+	git stash--helper branch "$@"
 	;;
 *)
 	case $# in

-- 
2.19.0.rc0.22.gc26283d74e