diff --git a/plugins/git4idea/src/git4idea/branch/GitBranchUtil.java b/plugins/git4idea/src/git4idea/branch/GitBranchUtil.java
index 4cc356e27df8..6dfa3f23dd36 100644
--- a/plugins/git4idea/src/git4idea/branch/GitBranchUtil.java
+++ b/plugins/git4idea/src/git4idea/branch/GitBranchUtil.java
@@ -16,10 +16,8 @@
 package git4idea.branch;
 
 import com.google.common.base.Function;
-import com.google.common.base.Optional;
 import com.google.common.base.Predicate;
 import com.google.common.collect.Collections2;
-import com.google.common.collect.Iterables;
 import com.intellij.dvcs.DvcsUtil;
 import com.intellij.dvcs.repo.RepositoryUtil;
 import com.intellij.openapi.diagnostic.Logger;
@@ -47,7 +45,10 @@ import org.jetbrains.annotations.Nullable;
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.util.*;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.HashMap;
 
 /**
  * @author Kirill Likhodedov
@@ -262,50 +263,6 @@ public class GitBranchUtil {
     });
   }
 
-  /**
-   * @deprecated Don't use names, use {@link GitLocalBranch} objects.
-   */
-  @Deprecated
-  @Nullable
-  public static GitLocalBranch findLocalBranchByName(@NotNull GitRepository repository, @NotNull final String branchName) {
-    Optional<GitLocalBranch> optional = Iterables.tryFind(repository.getBranches().getLocalBranches(), new Predicate<GitLocalBranch>() {
-      @Override
-      public boolean apply(@Nullable GitLocalBranch input) {
-        assert input != null;
-        return input.getName().equals(branchName);
-      }
-    });
-    if (optional.isPresent()) {
-      return optional.get();
-    }
-    LOG.info(String.format("Couldn't find branch with name %s in %s", branchName, repository));
-    return null;
-
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * Looks through the remote branches in the given repository and tries to find the one from the given remote,
-   * which the given name.
-   * @return remote branch or null if such branch couldn't be found.
-   */
-  @Nullable
-  public static GitRemoteBranch findRemoteBranchByName(@NotNull String remoteBranchName, @NotNull final String remoteName,
-                                                       @NotNull final Collection<GitRemoteBranch> remoteBranches) {
-    final String branchName = stripRefsPrefix(remoteBranchName);
-    Optional<GitRemoteBranch> optional = Iterables.tryFind(remoteBranches, new Predicate<GitRemoteBranch>() {
-      @Override
-      public boolean apply(@Nullable GitRemoteBranch input) {
-        assert input != null;
-        return input.getNameForRemoteOperations().equals(branchName) && input.getRemote().getName().equals(remoteName);
-      }
-    });
-    if (optional.isPresent()) {
-      return optional.get();
-    }
-    LOG.info(String.format("Couldn't find branch with name %s", branchName));
-    return null;
-  }
-
   @NotNull
   public static String stripRefsPrefix(@NotNull String branchName) {
     if (branchName.startsWith(GitBranch.REFS_HEADS_PREFIX)) {
diff --git a/plugins/git4idea/src/git4idea/repo/GitConfig.java b/plugins/git4idea/src/git4idea/repo/GitConfig.java
index 4b0bdeadc8f9..aeb0bf8eb55c 100644
--- a/plugins/git4idea/src/git4idea/repo/GitConfig.java
+++ b/plugins/git4idea/src/git4idea/repo/GitConfig.java
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ public class GitConfig {
 
     Pair<Collection<Remote>, Collection<Url>> remotesAndUrls = parseRemotes(ini, classLoader);
     Collection<BranchConfig> trackedInfos = parseTrackedInfos(ini, classLoader);
-    
+
     return new GitConfig(remotesAndUrls.getFirst(), remotesAndUrls.getSecond(), trackedInfos);
   }
 
@@ -201,12 +201,12 @@ public class GitConfig {
 
     boolean merge = mergeName != null;
     final String remoteBranchName = (merge ? mergeName : rebaseName);
-    assert remoteName != null;
-    assert remoteBranchName != null;
 
     GitLocalBranch localBranch = findLocalBranch(branchName, localBranches);
-    GitRemoteBranch remoteBranch = GitBranchUtil.findRemoteBranchByName(remoteBranchName, remoteName, remoteBranches);
+    GitRemoteBranch remoteBranch = findRemoteBranch(remoteBranchName, remoteName, remoteBranches);
     if (localBranch == null || remoteBranch == null) {
+      // obsolete record in .git/config: local or remote branch doesn't exist, but the tracking information wasn't removed
+      LOG.debug("localBranch: " + localBranch + ", remoteBranch: " + remoteBranch);
       return null;
     }
     return new GitBranchTrackInfo(localBranch, remoteBranch, merge);
@@ -215,19 +215,25 @@ public class GitConfig {
   @Nullable
   private static GitLocalBranch findLocalBranch(@NotNull String branchName, @NotNull Collection<GitLocalBranch> localBranches) {
     final String name = GitBranchUtil.stripRefsPrefix(branchName);
-    try {
-      return ContainerUtil.find(localBranches, new Condition<GitLocalBranch>() {
-        @Override
-        public boolean value(@Nullable GitLocalBranch input) {
-          assert input != null;
-          return input.getName().equals(name);
-        }
-      });
-    }
-    catch (NoSuchElementException e) {
-      LOG.info("Couldn't find branch with name " + name);
-      return null;
-    }
+    return ContainerUtil.find(localBranches, new Condition<GitLocalBranch>() {
+      @Override
+      public boolean value(@Nullable GitLocalBranch input) {
+        assert input != null;
+        return input.getName().equals(name);
+      }
+    });
+  }
+
+  @Nullable
+  public static GitRemoteBranch findRemoteBranch(@NotNull String remoteBranchName, @NotNull final String remoteName,
+                                                 @NotNull final Collection<GitRemoteBranch> remoteBranches) {
+    final String branchName = GitBranchUtil.stripRefsPrefix(remoteBranchName);
+    return ContainerUtil.find(remoteBranches, new Condition<GitRemoteBranch>() {
+      @Override
+      public boolean value(GitRemoteBranch branch) {
+        return branch.getNameForRemoteOperations().equals(branchName) && branch.getRemote().getName().equals(remoteName);
+      }
+    });
   }
 
   @Nullable
diff --git a/plugins/git4idea/src/git4idea/ui/branch/GitMultiRootBranchConfig.java b/plugins/git4idea/src/git4idea/ui/branch/GitMultiRootBranchConfig.java
index 18076a1b9a61..360cf56fe505 100644
--- a/plugins/git4idea/src/git4idea/ui/branch/GitMultiRootBranchConfig.java
+++ b/plugins/git4idea/src/git4idea/ui/branch/GitMultiRootBranchConfig.java
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ public class GitMultiRootBranchConfig extends DvcsMultiRootBranchConfig<GitRepos
 
   @Nullable
   private static GitRemoteBranch getTrackedBranch(@NotNull GitRepository repository, @NotNull String branchName) {
-    GitLocalBranch branch = GitBranchUtil.findLocalBranchByName(repository, branchName);
+    GitLocalBranch branch = repository.getBranches().findLocalBranch(branchName);
     return branch == null ? null : branch.findTrackedBranch(repository);
   }