diff --git a/servers/jax-rs-tests/src/main/java/org/projectnessie/jaxrs/AbstractTestRest.java b/servers/jax-rs-tests/src/main/java/org/projectnessie/jaxrs/AbstractTestRest.java
index 66bb9c1b0e3..b9c0e3b19eb 100644
--- a/servers/jax-rs-tests/src/main/java/org/projectnessie/jaxrs/AbstractTestRest.java
+++ b/servers/jax-rs-tests/src/main/java/org/projectnessie/jaxrs/AbstractTestRest.java
@@ -1665,6 +1665,33 @@ public void testUnknownHashesOnValidNamedRefs()
                 "Could not find commit '%s' in reference '%s'.", invalidHash, b.getName()));
   }
 
+  /** Assigning a branch/tag to a fresh main without any commits didn't work in 0.9.2 */
+  @Test
+  public void testAssignRefToFreshMain() throws NessieNotFoundException, NessieConflictException {
+    Reference main = api.getReference().refName("main").get();
+    // make sure main doesn't have any commits
+    LogResponse log = api.getCommitLog().refName(main.getName()).get();
+    assertThat(log.getOperations()).isEmpty();
+
+    String testBranch = "testBranch";
+    api.createReference()
+        .sourceRefName(main.getName())
+        .reference(Branch.of(testBranch, null))
+        .create();
+    Reference testBranchRef = api.getReference().refName(testBranch).get();
+    api.assignBranch().hash(testBranchRef.getHash()).branchName(testBranch).assignTo(main).assign();
+    assertThat(testBranchRef.getHash()).isEqualTo(main.getHash());
+
+    String testTag = "testTag";
+    api.createReference()
+        .sourceRefName(main.getName())
+        .reference(Branch.of(testTag, null))
+        .create();
+    Reference testTagRef = api.getReference().refName(testTag).get();
+    api.assignTag().hash(testTagRef.getHash()).tagName(testTag).assignTo(main).assign();
+    assertThat(testTagRef.getHash()).isEqualTo(main.getHash());
+  }
+
   void unwrap(Executable exec) throws Throwable {
     try {
       exec.execute();
diff --git a/versioned/persist/tests/src/main/java/org/projectnessie/versioned/persist/tests/AbstractVersionStoreTest.java b/versioned/persist/tests/src/main/java/org/projectnessie/versioned/persist/tests/AbstractVersionStoreTest.java
index 083b9062592..f4c5aa24996 100644
--- a/versioned/persist/tests/src/main/java/org/projectnessie/versioned/persist/tests/AbstractVersionStoreTest.java
+++ b/versioned/persist/tests/src/main/java/org/projectnessie/versioned/persist/tests/AbstractVersionStoreTest.java
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@
 import org.projectnessie.versioned.Key;
 import org.projectnessie.versioned.Operation;
 import org.projectnessie.versioned.Put;
+import org.projectnessie.versioned.Ref;
+import org.projectnessie.versioned.ReferenceAlreadyExistsException;
 import org.projectnessie.versioned.ReferenceConflictException;
 import org.projectnessie.versioned.ReferenceNotFoundException;
 import org.projectnessie.versioned.StringStoreWorker;
@@ -577,4 +579,27 @@ void referenceNotFound(ReferenceNotFoundFunction f) throws Exception {
         .isInstanceOf(ReferenceNotFoundException.class)
         .hasMessage(f.msg);
   }
+
+  /** Assigning a branch/tag to a fresh main without any commits didn't work in 0.9.2 */
+  @Test
+  public void assignReferenceToFreshMain()
+      throws ReferenceNotFoundException, ReferenceAlreadyExistsException,
+          ReferenceConflictException {
+    BranchName main = BranchName.of("main");
+    WithHash<Ref> mainRef = store.toRef(main.getName());
+    assertThat(store().getCommits(main)).isEmpty();
+    assertThat(store.getNamedRefs())
+        .extracting(r -> r.getValue().getName())
+        .containsExactly(main.getName());
+
+    BranchName testBranch = BranchName.of("testBranch");
+    Hash testBranchHash = store.create(testBranch, Optional.empty());
+    store.assign(testBranch, Optional.of(testBranchHash), mainRef.getHash());
+    assertThat(store.toRef(testBranch.getName()).getHash()).isEqualTo(mainRef.getHash());
+
+    TagName testTag = TagName.of("testTag");
+    Hash testTagHash = store.create(testTag, Optional.empty());
+    store.assign(testTag, Optional.of(testTagHash), mainRef.getHash());
+    assertThat(store.toRef(testTag.getName()).getHash()).isEqualTo(mainRef.getHash());
+  }
 }