diff --git a/modules/git/ref.go b/modules/git/ref.go
index 0ac6094e3da53..a6e53ced8317c 100644
--- a/modules/git/ref.go
+++ b/modules/git/ref.go
@@ -5,9 +5,9 @@ package git
 
 import (
 	"regexp"
+	"slices"
 	"strings"
 
-	"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/setting"
 	"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/util"
 )
 
@@ -85,20 +85,6 @@ func RefNameFromCommit(shortName string) RefName {
 	return RefName(shortName)
 }
 
-func RefNameFromTypeAndShortName(tp RefType, shortName string) RefName {
-	switch tp {
-	case RefTypeBranch:
-		return RefNameFromBranch(shortName)
-	case RefTypeTag:
-		return RefNameFromTag(shortName)
-	case RefTypeCommit:
-		return RefNameFromCommit(shortName)
-	default:
-		setting.PanicInDevOrTesting("Unknown RefType: %v", tp)
-		return ""
-	}
-}
-
 func (ref RefName) String() string {
 	return string(ref)
 }
@@ -235,3 +221,11 @@ func (ref RefName) RefWebLinkPath() string {
 	}
 	return string(refType) + "/" + util.PathEscapeSegments(ref.ShortName())
 }
+
+func RefNameFromUserInput(ref string, allowedTypes ...RefType) RefName {
+	refName := RefName(ref)
+	if !slices.Contains(allowedTypes, refName.RefType()) {
+		return ""
+	}
+	return refName
+}
diff --git a/routers/web/repo/find.go b/routers/web/repo/find.go
index 530d75ff1b151..2a505971b8975 100644
--- a/routers/web/repo/find.go
+++ b/routers/web/repo/find.go
@@ -5,7 +5,9 @@ package repo
 
 import (
 	"net/http"
+	"net/url"
 
+	"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/git"
 	"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/templates"
 	"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/util"
 	"code.gitea.io/gitea/services/context"
@@ -18,8 +20,8 @@ const (
 // FindFiles render the page to find repository files
 func FindFiles(ctx *context.Context) {
 	path := ctx.PathParam("*")
-	ctx.Data["TreeLink"] = ctx.Repo.RepoLink + "/src/" + util.PathEscapeSegments(path)
-	ctx.Data["DataLink"] = ctx.Repo.RepoLink + "/tree-list/" + util.PathEscapeSegments(path) +
-		"?ref_type=" + ctx.FormTrim("ref_type") + "&ref_name=" + ctx.FormTrim("ref_name")
+	ref := git.RefNameFromUserInput(ctx.FormTrim("ref"), git.RefTypeBranch, git.RefTypeTag, git.RefTypeCommit)
+	ctx.Data["TreeLink"] = ctx.Repo.RepoLink + "/src/" + ref.RefWebLinkPath() + "/" + util.PathEscapeSegments(path)
+	ctx.Data["DataLink"] = ctx.Repo.RepoLink + "/tree-list/" + util.PathEscapeSegments(path) + "?ref=" + url.QueryEscape(ctx.FormTrim("ref"))
 	ctx.HTML(http.StatusOK, tplFindFiles)
 }
diff --git a/routers/web/repo/treelist.go b/routers/web/repo/treelist.go
index d11af4669f90c..6c3e0d83751fa 100644
--- a/routers/web/repo/treelist.go
+++ b/routers/web/repo/treelist.go
@@ -15,7 +15,12 @@ import (
 
 // TreeList get all files' entries of a repository
 func TreeList(ctx *context.Context) {
-	tree, err := ctx.Repo.Commit.SubTree("/")
+	_, commit, err := ctx.Repo.GetRefCommit(ctx.FormString("ref"), git.RefTypeBranch, git.RefTypeTag, git.RefTypeCommit)
+	if err != nil {
+		ctx.ServerError("GetRefCommit", err)
+		return
+	}
+	tree, err := commit.SubTree("/")
 	if err != nil {
 		ctx.ServerError("Repo.Commit.SubTree", err)
 		return
diff --git a/routers/web/web.go b/routers/web/web.go
index 30a0c74f7a5f5..687664e81aeb7 100644
--- a/routers/web/web.go
+++ b/routers/web/web.go
@@ -1158,8 +1158,7 @@ func registerRoutes(m *web.Router) {
 	m.Group("/{username}/{reponame}", func() {
 		m.Get("/find/*", repo.FindFiles)
 		m.Get("/find", repo.FindFiles)
-		m.Get("/tree-list/*", context.RepoRefByQueries(), repo.TreeList)
-		m.Get("/tree-list", context.RepoRefByQueries(), repo.TreeList)
+		m.Get("/tree-list", repo.TreeList)
 		m.Get("/compare", repo.MustBeNotEmpty, repo.SetEditorconfigIfExists, repo.SetDiffViewStyle, repo.SetWhitespaceBehavior, repo.CompareDiff)
 		m.Combo("/compare/*", repo.MustBeNotEmpty, repo.SetEditorconfigIfExists).
 			Get(repo.SetDiffViewStyle, repo.SetWhitespaceBehavior, repo.CompareDiff).
diff --git a/services/context/repo.go b/services/context/repo.go
index 21aeca5111db4..e05580b922431 100644
--- a/services/context/repo.go
+++ b/services/context/repo.go
@@ -91,6 +91,22 @@ func (r *Repository) GetObjectFormat() git.ObjectFormat {
 	return git.ObjectFormatFromName(r.Repository.ObjectFormatName)
 }
 
+func (r *Repository) GetRefCommit(ref string, allowedTypes ...git.RefType) (git.RefName, *git.Commit, error) {
+	refName := git.RefNameFromUserInput(ref, allowedTypes...)
+	if refName == "" {
+		return "", nil, errors.New("invalid ref")
+	}
+	commitID, err := r.GitRepo.GetRefCommitID(refName.String())
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", nil, err
+	}
+	commit, err := r.GitRepo.GetCommit(commitID)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", nil, err
+	}
+	return refName, commit, nil
+}
+
 // RepoMustNotBeArchived checks if a repo is archived
 func RepoMustNotBeArchived() func(ctx *Context) {
 	return func(ctx *Context) {
@@ -780,6 +796,20 @@ type RepoRefByTypeOptions struct {
 	IgnoreNotExistErr bool
 }
 
+func repoRefFullName(typ git.RefType, shortName string) git.RefName {
+	switch typ {
+	case git.RefTypeBranch:
+		return git.RefNameFromBranch(shortName)
+	case git.RefTypeTag:
+		return git.RefNameFromTag(shortName)
+	case git.RefTypeCommit:
+		return git.RefNameFromCommit(shortName)
+	default:
+		setting.PanicInDevOrTesting("Unknown RepoRefType: %v", typ)
+		return git.RefNameFromBranch("main") // just a dummy result, it shouldn't happen
+	}
+}
+
 // RepoRefByType handles repository reference name for a specific type
 // of repository reference
 func RepoRefByType(detectRefType git.RefType, opts ...RepoRefByTypeOptions) func(*Context) {
@@ -842,7 +872,7 @@ func RepoRefByType(detectRefType git.RefType, opts ...RepoRefByTypeOptions) func
 			} else {
 				refShortName = getRefName(ctx.Base, ctx.Repo, reqPath, refType)
 			}
-			ctx.Repo.RefFullName = git.RefNameFromTypeAndShortName(refType, refShortName)
+			ctx.Repo.RefFullName = repoRefFullName(refType, refShortName)
 			isRenamedBranch, has := ctx.Data["IsRenamedBranch"].(bool)
 			if isRenamedBranch && has {
 				renamedBranchName := ctx.Data["RenamedBranchName"].(string)
@@ -939,57 +969,6 @@ func RepoRefByType(detectRefType git.RefType, opts ...RepoRefByTypeOptions) func
 	}
 }
 
-func RepoRefByQueries() func(ctx *Context) {
-	return func(ctx *Context) {
-		if ctx.Repo.Repository.IsEmpty {
-			// assume the user is viewing the (non-existent) default branch
-			ctx.Repo.IsViewBranch = true
-			ctx.Repo.BranchName = ctx.Repo.Repository.DefaultBranch
-			ctx.Repo.RefFullName = git.RefNameFromBranch(ctx.Repo.BranchName)
-			return
-		}
-
-		var err error
-		if ctx.Repo.GitRepo == nil {
-			ctx.Repo.GitRepo, err = gitrepo.RepositoryFromRequestContextOrOpen(ctx, ctx.Repo.Repository)
-			if err != nil {
-				ctx.ServerError(fmt.Sprintf("Open Repository %v failed", ctx.Repo.Repository.FullName()), err)
-				return
-			}
-		}
-
-		ctx.Repo.RefFullName = git.RefNameFromTypeAndShortName(git.RefType(ctx.FormTrim("ref_type")), ctx.FormTrim("ref_name"))
-		if ctx.Repo.RefFullName == "" {
-			ctx.Error(http.StatusBadRequest, "invalid ref type or name")
-			return
-		}
-
-		switch ctx.Repo.RefFullName.RefType() {
-		case git.RefTypeBranch:
-			ctx.Repo.IsViewBranch = true
-			ctx.Repo.BranchName = ctx.Repo.RefFullName.ShortName()
-		case git.RefTypeTag:
-			ctx.Repo.IsViewTag = true
-			ctx.Repo.TagName = ctx.Repo.RefFullName.ShortName()
-		case git.RefTypeCommit:
-			ctx.Repo.IsViewCommit = true
-			ctx.Repo.CommitID = ctx.Repo.RefFullName.ShortName()
-		}
-
-		ctx.Repo.Commit, err = ctx.Repo.GitRepo.GetCommit(ctx.Repo.RefFullName.String())
-		if err != nil {
-			if git.IsErrNotExist(err) {
-				ctx.NotFound("GetCommit", err)
-			} else {
-				ctx.ServerError("GetCommit", err)
-			}
-			return
-		}
-		ctx.Repo.CommitID = ctx.Repo.Commit.ID.String()
-		ctx.Repo.TreePath = ctx.PathParam("*")
-	}
-}
-
 // GitHookService checks if repository Git hooks service has been enabled.
 func GitHookService() func(ctx *Context) {
 	return func(ctx *Context) {
diff --git a/templates/repo/home.tmpl b/templates/repo/home.tmpl
index a0c181a7d79d7..0a49687093ae1 100644
--- a/templates/repo/home.tmpl
+++ b/templates/repo/home.tmpl
@@ -62,7 +62,8 @@
 
 						<!-- Show go to file if on home page -->
 						{{if $isTreePathRoot}}
-							<a href="{{.Repository.Link}}/find/{{.TreePath}}?ref_type={{.RefFullName.RefType}}&ref_name={{.RefFullName.ShortName}}" class="ui compact basic button">{{ctx.Locale.Tr "repo.find_file.go_to_file"}}</a>
+							{{/* FIXME: it should still use RefTypeNameSubURL, otherwise the link is ugly */}}
+							<a href="{{.Repository.Link}}/find/{{.TreePath}}?ref={{.RefFullName}}" class="ui compact basic button">{{ctx.Locale.Tr "repo.find_file.go_to_file"}}</a>
 						{{end}}
 
 						{{if and .CanWriteCode .IsViewBranch (not .Repository.IsMirror) (not .Repository.IsArchived) (not .IsViewFile)}}