diff --git a/lib/gitlab/project_search_results.rb b/lib/gitlab/project_search_results.rb
index 0dab7bcfa4d0c9af1081042fdd3121bdb924b779..581a8c20bdb85e2275d8fe6dbf14cd0424a104b1 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/project_search_results.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/project_search_results.rb
@@ -4,11 +4,7 @@ module Gitlab
 
     def initialize(project_id, query, repository_ref = nil)
       @project = Project.find(project_id)
-      @repository_ref = if repository_ref.present?
-                          repository_ref
-                        else
-                          nil
-                        end
+      @repository_ref = repository_ref
       @query = Shellwords.shellescape(query) if query.present?
     end