diff --git a/app/models/protected_branch.rb b/app/models/protected_branch.rb
index 89bfc5f9a9c..d28fed11ca8 100644
--- a/app/models/protected_branch.rb
+++ b/app/models/protected_branch.rb
@@ -10,7 +10,9 @@ class ProtectedBranch < ActiveRecord::Base
   def self.protected?(project, ref_name)
     return true if project.empty_repo? && default_branch_protected?
 
-    self.matching(ref_name, protected_refs: project.protected_branches).present?
+    refs = project.protected_branches.select(:name)
+
+    self.matching(ref_name, protected_refs: refs).present?
   end
 
   def self.default_branch_protected?
diff --git a/app/models/protected_tag.rb b/app/models/protected_tag.rb
index f38109c0e52..42a9bcf7723 100644
--- a/app/models/protected_tag.rb
+++ b/app/models/protected_tag.rb
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ class ProtectedTag < ActiveRecord::Base
   protected_ref_access_levels :create
 
   def self.protected?(project, ref_name)
-    self.matching(ref_name, protected_refs: project.protected_tags).present?
+    refs = project.protected_tags.select(:name)
+
+    self.matching(ref_name, protected_refs: refs).present?
   end
 end
diff --git a/changelogs/unreleased/protected-branches-names.yml b/changelogs/unreleased/protected-branches-names.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3c6767df571
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/unreleased/protected-branches-names.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+title: Only load branch names for protected branch checks
+merge_request:
+author:
+type: performance