diff --git a/src/Composer/Repository/VcsRepository.php b/src/Composer/Repository/VcsRepository.php
index 148f587d4..80d24f7a1 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Repository/VcsRepository.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Repository/VcsRepository.php
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ class VcsRepository extends ArrayRepository implements ConfigurableRepositoryInt
                     continue;
                 }
 
-                $tagPackageName = isset($data['name']) ? $data['name'] : $this->packageName;
+                $tagPackageName = $this->packageName ?: (isset($data['name']) ? $data['name'] : '');
                 if ($existingPackage = $this->findPackage($tagPackageName, $data['version_normalized'])) {
                     if ($isVeryVerbose) {
                         $this->io->writeError('<warning>Skipped tag '.$tag.', it conflicts with an another tag ('.$existingPackage->getPrettyVersion().') as both resolve to '.$data['version_normalized'].' internally</warning>');
@@ -386,6 +386,8 @@ class VcsRepository extends ArrayRepository implements ConfigurableRepositoryInt
     protected function preProcess(VcsDriverInterface $driver, array $data, $identifier)
     {
         // keep the name of the main identifier for all packages
+        // this ensures that a package can be renamed in one place and that all old tags
+        // will still be installable using that new name without requiring re-tagging
         $dataPackageName = isset($data['name']) ? $data['name'] : null;
         $data['name'] = $this->packageName ?: $dataPackageName;