diff --git a/app/models/environment.rb b/app/models/environment.rb
index e9ebf0637f3..435eeaf0e2e 100644
--- a/app/models/environment.rb
+++ b/app/models/environment.rb
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ class Environment < ActiveRecord::Base
   end
 
   def ref_path
-    "refs/environments/#{Shellwords.shellescape(name)}"
+    "refs/#{Repository::REF_ENVIRONMENTS}/#{Shellwords.shellescape(name)}"
   end
 
   def formatted_external_url
diff --git a/app/models/merge_request.rb b/app/models/merge_request.rb
index f028d2395c1..8361039f301 100644
--- a/app/models/merge_request.rb
+++ b/app/models/merge_request.rb
@@ -797,7 +797,7 @@ class MergeRequest < ActiveRecord::Base
   end
 
   def ref_path
-    "refs/merge-requests/#{iid}/head"
+    "refs/#{Repository::REF_MERGE_REQUEST}/#{iid}/head"
   end
 
   def ref_fetched?
diff --git a/app/models/repository.rb b/app/models/repository.rb
index c1e4fcf94a4..c247fb840ce 100644
--- a/app/models/repository.rb
+++ b/app/models/repository.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,18 @@
 require 'securerandom'
 
 class Repository
+  REF_MERGE_REQUEST = 'merge-requests'
+  REF_KEEP_AROUND = 'keep-around'
+  REF_ENVIRONMENTS = 'environments'
+
+  RESERVED_REFS_NAMES = %W[
+    heads
+    tags
+    #{REF_ENVIRONMENTS}
+    #{REF_KEEP_AROUND}
+    #{REF_ENVIRONMENTS}
+  ].freeze
+
   include Gitlab::ShellAdapter
   include RepositoryMirroring
 
@@ -228,10 +240,10 @@ class Repository
     begin
       write_ref(keep_around_ref_name(sha), sha)
     rescue Rugged::ReferenceError => ex
-      Rails.logger.error "Unable to create keep-around reference for repository #{path}: #{ex}"
+      Rails.logger.error "Unable to create #{REF_KEEP_AROUND} reference for repository #{path}: #{ex}"
     rescue Rugged::OSError => ex
       raise unless ex.message =~ /Failed to create locked file/ && ex.message =~ /File exists/
-      Rails.logger.error "Unable to create keep-around reference for repository #{path}: #{ex}"
+      Rails.logger.error "Unable to create #{REF_KEEP_AROUND} reference for repository #{path}: #{ex}"
     end
   end
 
@@ -1152,7 +1164,7 @@ class Repository
   end
 
   def keep_around_ref_name(sha)
-    "refs/keep-around/#{sha}"
+    "refs/#{REF_KEEP_AROUND}/#{sha}"
   end
 
   def repository_event(event, tags = {})
diff --git a/app/services/projects/after_import_service.rb b/app/services/projects/after_import_service.rb
index bbada7e2b1c..107856885f3 100644
--- a/app/services/projects/after_import_service.rb
+++ b/app/services/projects/after_import_service.rb
@@ -1,10 +1,7 @@
 module Projects
   class AfterImportService
-    RESERVED_REFS_NAMES =
-      %w[heads tags merge-requests keep-around environments].freeze
-
     RESERVED_REFS_REGEXP =
-      %r{\Arefs/(?:#{Regexp.union(*RESERVED_REFS_NAMES)})/}
+      %r{\Arefs/(?:#{Regexp.union(*Repository::RESERVED_REFS_NAMES)})/}
 
     def initialize(project)
       @project = project
diff --git a/spec/services/projects/after_import_service_spec.rb b/spec/services/projects/after_import_service_spec.rb
index 540d2191b2d..c6678fc1f5c 100644
--- a/spec/services/projects/after_import_service_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/services/projects/after_import_service_spec.rb
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ describe Projects::AfterImportService do
       end
     end
 
-    described_class::RESERVED_REFS_NAMES.each do |name|
+    Repository::RESERVED_REFS_NAMES.each do |name|
       context "with a ref in refs/#{name}/tmp" do
         before do
           repository.write_ref("refs/#{name}/tmp", sha)