diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b613097..a4610da 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Fixed
+
+- Push authorization now correctly ignores `refs/tags/<name>^{}` peeled-tag entries in state events (kind 30618). These entries are git's internal notation for the dereferenced commit behind an annotated tag and are never sent as part of a push. Previously, their presence in the state event caused `can_satisfy_state` to reject valid annotated-tag pushes because the would-be ref state after the push did not include the spurious `^{}` entry, making the exact-equality check fail.
+
 ### Changed
 
 - Push auth rejections now send the reason to the git client via ERR pkt-line (e.g. "authorisation failed: No state events in purgatory") instead of a generic HTTP 403, so users see actionable error messages directly in their terminal
diff --git a/src/nostr/events.rs b/src/nostr/events.rs
index a441742..00e4486 100644
--- a/src/nostr/events.rs
+++ b/src/nostr/events.rs
@@ -260,12 +260,14 @@ impl RepositoryState {
 
         // Extract tags (refs/tags/*)
         // Tag format: ["refs/tags/v1.0", "commit_hash"]
+        // Exclude peeled tag notation ("refs/tags/v1.0^{}") — these are git's internal
+        // dereference markers pointing to the underlying commit, not real refs.
         let tags = event
             .tags
             .iter()
             .filter_map(|t| {
                 if let TagKind::Custom(s) = t.kind() {
-                    if s.as_ref().starts_with("refs/tags/") {
+                    if s.as_ref().starts_with("refs/tags/") && !s.as_ref().ends_with("^{}") {
                         let parts = t.clone().to_vec();
                         if parts.len() >= 2 {
                             Some(TagState {
diff --git a/src/purgatory/helpers.rs b/src/purgatory/helpers.rs
index a9f6e66..319711b 100644
--- a/src/purgatory/helpers.rs
+++ b/src/purgatory/helpers.rs
@@ -58,7 +58,11 @@ pub fn extract_refs_from_state(event: &Event) -> Vec<RefPair> {
                 let ref_str = ref_name.as_ref();
 
                 // Only process refs/heads/* and refs/tags/*
-                if ref_str.starts_with("refs/heads/") || ref_str.starts_with("refs/tags/") {
+                // Exclude peeled tag notation (e.g. "refs/tags/v1.0.0^{}") — these are
+                // git's internal dereference markers, not real refs that get pushed.
+                if (ref_str.starts_with("refs/heads/") || ref_str.starts_with("refs/tags/"))
+                    && !ref_str.ends_with("^{}")
+                {
                     // Get the object SHA (first value in tag)
                     let parts = tag.clone().to_vec();
                     if parts.len() >= 2 {