diff --git a/base/deprecated.jl b/base/deprecated.jl
index 487fbfa131150..6cbb1669286ab 100644
--- a/base/deprecated.jl
+++ b/base/deprecated.jl
@@ -1763,4 +1763,11 @@ end)
     return false
 end
 
+# Not exported
+eval(LibGit2, quote
+    function owner(x)
+        depwarn("owner(x) is deprecated, use repository(x) instead.", :owner)
+        repository(x)
+    end
+end)
 # End deprecations scheduled for 0.6
diff --git a/base/libgit2/index.jl b/base/libgit2/index.jl
index d5e7a303f51d7..476be19a3c16c 100644
--- a/base/libgit2/index.jl
+++ b/base/libgit2/index.jl
@@ -24,13 +24,16 @@ function write_tree!(idx::GitIndex)
     return oid_ptr[]
 end
 
-function owner(idx::GitIndex)
-    isnull(idx.nrepo) && throw(GitError(Error.Index, Error.ENOTFOUND, "Index does not have an owning repository."))
-    return Base.get(idx.nrepo)
+function repository(idx::GitIndex)
+    if isnull(idx.nrepo)
+        throw(GitError(Error.Index, Error.ENOTFOUND, "Index does not have an owning repository."))
+    else
+        return Base.get(idx.nrepo)
+    end
 end
 
 function read_tree!(idx::GitIndex, tree_id::GitHash)
-    repo = owner(idx)
+    repo = repository(idx)
     tree = get(GitTree, repo, tree_id)
     try
         @check ccall((:git_index_read_tree, :libgit2), Cint,
@@ -114,5 +117,5 @@ end
 stage(ie::IndexEntry) = ccall((:git_index_entry_stage, :libgit2), Cint, (Ptr{IndexEntry},), Ref(ie))
 
 function Base.show(io::IO, idx::GitIndex)
-    println(io, "GitIndex:\nOwner: ", owner(idk), "\nNumber of elements: ", count(idx))
+    println(io, "GitIndex:\nRepository: ", repository(idk), "\nNumber of elements: ", count(idx))
 end
diff --git a/base/libgit2/reference.jl b/base/libgit2/reference.jl
index 2484b2ffcd7bc..5a5677a660bc4 100644
--- a/base/libgit2/reference.jl
+++ b/base/libgit2/reference.jl
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ function upstream(ref::GitReference)
     return GitReference(ref.repo, ref_ptr_ptr[])
 end
 
-owner(ref::GitReference) = ref.repo
+repository(ref::GitReference) = ref.repo
 
 function target!(ref::GitReference, new_oid::GitHash; msg::AbstractString="")
     ref_ptr_ptr = Ref{Ptr{Void}}(C_NULL)
diff --git a/base/libgit2/tree.jl b/base/libgit2/tree.jl
index 03545ee175d34..8509f6ae628cb 100644
--- a/base/libgit2/tree.jl
+++ b/base/libgit2/tree.jl
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ function treewalk(f::Function, tree::GitTree, payload=Any[], post::Bool = false)
     return cbf_payload
 end
 
-function owner(tree::GitTree)
+function repository(tree::GitTree)
     repo_ptr = ccall((:git_tree_owner, :libgit2), Ptr{Void},
                  (Ptr{Void},), tree.ptr)
     return GitRepo(repo_ptr)
diff --git a/test/libgit2.jl b/test/libgit2.jl
index c86994547b602..a46665cca7921 100644
--- a/test/libgit2.jl
+++ b/test/libgit2.jl
@@ -325,7 +325,7 @@ mktempdir() do dir
                     @test LibGit2.shortname(brref) == master_branch
                     @test LibGit2.ishead(brref)
                     @test LibGit2.upstream(brref) === nothing
-                    @test repo.ptr == LibGit2.owner(brref).ptr
+                    @test repo.ptr == LibGit2.repository(brref).ptr
                     @test brnch == master_branch
                     @test LibGit2.headname(repo) == master_branch
                     LibGit2.branch!(repo, test_branch, string(commit_oid1), set_head=false)