diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 439c2056a..73acdeacf 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 Package: orderly
 Title: Lightweight Reproducible Reporting
-Version: 1.2.23
+Version: 1.2.24
 Description: Order, create and store reports from R.  By defining a
     lightweight interface around the inputs and outputs of an
     analysis, a lot of the repetitive work for reproducible research
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ Imports:
     digest,
     docopt,
     fs (>= 1.2.7),
+    gert,
     ids,
     withr,
     yaml,
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index ac8f39bf3..7d73b054e 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+# orderly 1.2.24
+
+* `orderly_run_remote` checks that ref exists before running (VIMC-4574)
+
 # orderly 1.2.23
 
 * `orderly_run` with non-boolean `use_draft` and fixed ID dependency works (#259)
diff --git a/R/remote.R b/R/remote.R
index 944724bd2..a512405b6 100644
--- a/R/remote.R
+++ b/R/remote.R
@@ -247,7 +247,11 @@ orderly_run_remote <- function(name, parameters = NULL, ref = NULL,
                                progress = TRUE,
                                root = NULL, locate = TRUE, instance = NULL,
                                remote = NULL) {
-  remote <- get_remote(remote, orderly_config(root, locate))
+  cfg <- orderly_config(root, locate)
+  if (!is.null(ref)) {
+    ref <- gert::git_commit_id(ref, cfg$root)
+  }
+  remote <- get_remote(remote, cfg)
   invisible(remote$run(
     name, parameters = parameters, ref = ref,
     timeout = timeout, wait = wait, poll = poll,
diff --git a/docker/Dockerfile b/docker/Dockerfile
index a0982b7a4..b7ece047e 100644
--- a/docker/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/Dockerfile
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ RUN install2.r \
   digest \
   docopt \
   fs \
+  gert \
   ids \
   jsonlite \
   knitr \
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-remote.R b/tests/testthat/test-remote.R
index a51385c83..6be984219 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-remote.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-remote.R
@@ -321,3 +321,37 @@ test_that("orderly_bundle_(pack|import)_remote do not use root/locate", {
 
   expect_equal(remote$list_versions("example"), ans$id)
 })
+
+
+test_that("orderly run remote passes ref to run", {
+  path <- prepare_orderly_git_example()
+
+  ## Create a minimal remote class which will satisfy implements_remote
+  mock_remote <- R6::R6Class(
+    "orderly_mock_remote",
+    lock_objects = FALSE,
+    public = list(
+      list_reports = function() TRUE,
+      list_versions = function() TRUE,
+      pull = function() TRUE,
+      url_report = function() TRUE
+    )
+  )
+
+  ## Bit of awkwardness with adding run function here. We want to mock out new
+  ## function but can't do that inside the class.
+  remote <- mock_remote$new()
+  remote$run <- mockery::mock(TRUE, cycle = TRUE)
+  orderly_run_remote("minimal", remote = remote, root = path[["local"]])
+
+  mockery::expect_called(remote$run, 1)
+  args <- mockery::mock_args(remote$run)[[1]]
+  expect_null(args$ref)
+
+  orderly_run_remote("minimal", remote = remote, root = path[["local"]],
+                     ref = "master")
+
+  mockery::expect_called(remote$run, 2)
+  args <- mockery::mock_args(remote$run)[[2]]
+  expect_match(args$ref, "[0-9a-f]{40}")
+})