diff --git a/src/parser-includes.ts b/src/parser-includes.ts
index 9919267c6..171b516fb 100644
--- a/src/parser-includes.ts
+++ b/src/parser-includes.ts
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ export class ParserIncludes {
                 if (this._cache.sha === undefined) {
                     if (this.isLocal) {
                         this._cache.sha = this.gitData.commit.SHA;
-                    } else if (/^[0-9a-f]{40}$/.test(this.effectiveRef)) {
+                    } else if (/^[0-9a-f]{40}$/i.test(this.effectiveRef)) {
                         // effectiveRef may already be a sha, if so return it directly
                         this._cache.sha = this.effectiveRef;
                     } else {
@@ -377,13 +377,15 @@ export class ParserIncludes {
                 await fs.mkdirp(path.dirname(`${cwd}/${target}/${normalizedFile}`));
                 tmpDir = `${cwd}/${target}.${ext}`;
 
-                const gitCloneBranch = (ref === "HEAD") ? "" : `--branch ${ref}`;
+                const isCommitSha = /^[0-9a-f]{40}$/i.test(ref);
+                const gitCloneBranch = (ref === "HEAD" || isCommitSha) ? "" : `--branch ${ref}`;
                 await Utils.bashMulti([
                     `cd ${cwd}/${stateDir}`,
                     `git clone ${gitCloneBranch} -n --depth=1 --filter=tree:0 ${remote.schema}://${remote.host}:${remote.port}/${project}.git ${tmpDir}`,
                     `cd ${tmpDir}`,
+                    ...isCommitSha ? [`git fetch --depth=1 --filter=tree:0 origin ${ref}`] : [],
                     `git sparse-checkout set --no-cone ${normalizedFile}`,
-                    "git checkout",
+                    isCommitSha ? "git checkout FETCH_HEAD" : "git checkout",
                     `cd ${cwd}/${stateDir}`,
                     `cp ${tmpDir}/${normalizedFile} ${cwd}/${target}/${normalizedFile}`,
                 ], cwd);
@@ -418,13 +420,15 @@ export class ParserIncludes {
                 await fs.mkdirp(path.dirname(`${cwd}/${target}/templates`));
                 tmpDir = `${cwd}/${target}.${ext}`;
 
-                const gitCloneBranch = (ref === "HEAD") ? "" : `--branch ${ref}`;
+                const isCommitSha = /^[0-9a-f]{40}$/i.test(ref);
+                const gitCloneBranch = (ref === "HEAD" || isCommitSha) ? "" : `--branch ${ref}`;
                 await Utils.bashMulti([
                     `cd ${cwd}/${stateDir}`,
                     `git clone ${gitCloneBranch} -n --depth=1 --filter=tree:0 ${remote.schema}://${remote.host}:${remote.port}/${project}.git ${tmpDir}`,
                     `cd ${tmpDir}`,
+                    ...isCommitSha ? [`git fetch --depth=1 --filter=tree:0 origin ${ref}`] : [],
                     `git sparse-checkout set --no-cone ${files[0]} ${files[1]}`,
-                    "git checkout",
+                    isCommitSha ? "git checkout FETCH_HEAD" : "git checkout",
                     `cd ${cwd}/${stateDir}`,
                     `mkdir -p ${tmpDir}/templates`, // create templates subdir (if it doesn't exist), as the check out may not create it
                     `cp -r ${tmpDir}/templates ${cwd}/${target}`,
diff --git a/tests/test-cases/include-project-file/.gitlab-ci-4.yml b/tests/test-cases/include-project-file/.gitlab-ci-4.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1dc0d86de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test-cases/include-project-file/.gitlab-ci-4.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+include:
+  # https://gitlab.com/ANGkeith/gitlab-ci-local-test/-/tree/dev?ref_type=heads
+  - project: angkeith/gitlab-ci-local-test
+    ref: 126db0b30c40344e135a0335fdfd3d5f26af3b6d
+    file:
+      - .gitlab-ci.yml
diff --git a/tests/test-cases/include-project-file/integration.test.ts b/tests/test-cases/include-project-file/integration.test.ts
index 22b7d1a1a..91a3f082d 100644
--- a/tests/test-cases/include-project-file/integration.test.ts
+++ b/tests/test-cases/include-project-file/integration.test.ts
@@ -66,3 +66,19 @@ test.concurrent("include:project should respect rules specified in included proj
 
     expect(writeStreams.stdoutLines.join("\n")).toEqual(expected.join("\n"));
 });
+
+test.concurrent("include:project be able to target a commit sha via ref", async () => {
+    const writeStreams = new WriteStreamsMock();
+
+    await handler({
+        file: ".gitlab-ci-4.yml",
+        cwd: "tests/test-cases/include-project-file",
+        noColor: true,
+        stateDir: ".gitlab-ci-local-include-project-file-sha",
+    }, writeStreams);
+
+    const expected = "job > hello world from dev branch";
+
+    const filteredStdout = writeStreams.stdoutLines.filter(f => f.startsWith("job >")).join("\n");
+    expect(filteredStdout).toEqual(expected);
+});