diff --git a/src/Composer/Repository/VcsRepository.php b/src/Composer/Repository/VcsRepository.php
index d6fb1bbee..9a9ba5833 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Repository/VcsRepository.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Repository/VcsRepository.php
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ class VcsRepository extends ArrayRepository implements ConfigurableRepositoryInt
     private $driver;
     /** @var VersionCacheInterface */
     private $versionCache;
+    private $emptyReferences = array();
 
     public function __construct(array $repoConfig, IOInterface $io, Config $config, EventDispatcher $dispatcher = null, array $drivers = null, VersionCacheInterface $versionCache = null)
     {
@@ -117,6 +118,11 @@ class VcsRepository extends ArrayRepository implements ConfigurableRepositoryInt
         return $this->branchErrorOccurred;
     }
 
+    public function getEmptyReferences()
+    {
+        return $this->emptyReferences;
+    }
+
     protected function initialize()
     {
         parent::initialize();
@@ -159,6 +165,10 @@ class VcsRepository extends ArrayRepository implements ConfigurableRepositoryInt
             if ($cachedPackage) {
                 $this->addPackage($cachedPackage);
 
+                continue;
+            } elseif ($cachedPackage === false) {
+                $this->emptyReferences[] = $identifier;
+
                 continue;
             }
 
@@ -174,6 +184,7 @@ class VcsRepository extends ArrayRepository implements ConfigurableRepositoryInt
                     if ($verbose) {
                         $this->io->writeError('<warning>Skipped tag '.$tag.', no composer file</warning>');
                     }
+                    $this->emptyReferences[] = $identifier;
                     continue;
                 }
 
@@ -212,6 +223,9 @@ class VcsRepository extends ArrayRepository implements ConfigurableRepositoryInt
 
                 $this->addPackage($this->loader->load($this->preProcess($driver, $data, $identifier)));
             } catch (\Exception $e) {
+                if ($e instanceof TransportException) {
+                    $this->emptyReferences[] = $identifier;
+                }
                 if ($verbose) {
                     $this->io->writeError('<warning>Skipped tag '.$tag.', '.($e instanceof TransportException ? 'no composer file was found' : $e->getMessage()).'</warning>');
                 }
@@ -258,6 +272,10 @@ class VcsRepository extends ArrayRepository implements ConfigurableRepositoryInt
             if ($cachedPackage) {
                 $this->addPackage($cachedPackage);
 
+                continue;
+            } elseif ($cachedPackage === false) {
+                $this->emptyReferences[] = $identifier;
+
                 continue;
             }
 
@@ -266,6 +284,7 @@ class VcsRepository extends ArrayRepository implements ConfigurableRepositoryInt
                     if ($verbose) {
                         $this->io->writeError('<warning>Skipped branch '.$branch.', no composer file</warning>');
                     }
+                    $this->emptyReferences[] = $identifier;
                     continue;
                 }
 
@@ -284,6 +303,7 @@ class VcsRepository extends ArrayRepository implements ConfigurableRepositoryInt
                 }
                 $this->addPackage($package);
             } catch (TransportException $e) {
+                $this->emptyReferences[] = $identifier;
                 if ($verbose) {
                     $this->io->writeError('<warning>Skipped branch '.$branch.', no composer file was found</warning>');
                 }
@@ -352,6 +372,14 @@ class VcsRepository extends ArrayRepository implements ConfigurableRepositoryInt
         }
 
         $cachedPackage = $this->versionCache->getVersionPackage($version, $identifier);
+        if ($cachedPackage === false) {
+            if ($verbose) {
+                $this->io->writeError('<warning>Skipped '.$version.', no composer file (cached from ref '.$identifier.')</warning>');
+            }
+
+            return false;
+        }
+
         if ($cachedPackage) {
             $msg = 'Found cached composer.json of <info>' . ($this->packageName ?: $this->url) . '</info> (<comment>' . $version . '</comment>)';
             if ($verbose) {
diff --git a/src/Composer/Repository/VersionCacheInterface.php b/src/Composer/Repository/VersionCacheInterface.php
index db5934b59..41d485c64 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Repository/VersionCacheInterface.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Repository/VersionCacheInterface.php
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ interface VersionCacheInterface
     /**
      * @param string $version
      * @param string $identifier
-     * @return array Package version data
+     * @return array|null|false Package version data if found, false to indicate the identifier is known but has no package, null for an unknown identifier
      */
     public function getVersionPackage($version, $identifier);
 }