diff --git a/PRESUBMIT.py b/PRESUBMIT.py
index b72acc762..0c9b71eda 100644
--- a/PRESUBMIT.py
+++ b/PRESUBMIT.py
@@ -79,7 +79,6 @@ def CommonChecks(input_api, output_api, tests_to_black_list, run_on_python3):
         r'.*ninjalog_uploader_test\.py$',
         r'.*recipes_test\.py$',
         r'.*roll_dep_test\.py$',
-        r'.*scm_unittest\.py$',
         r'.*subprocess2_test\.py$',
     ]
 
diff --git a/scm.py b/scm.py
index 27ab16f8e..eb413a235 100644
--- a/scm.py
+++ b/scm.py
@@ -376,24 +376,30 @@ class GIT(object):
     return bool(GIT.Capture(['clean', '-df', relative_dir], cwd=cwd))
 
   @staticmethod
-  def IsValidRevision(cwd, rev, sha_only=False):
-    """Verifies the revision is a proper git revision.
-
-    sha_only: Fail unless rev is a sha hash.
-    """
+  def ResolveCommit(cwd, rev):
     if sys.platform.startswith('win'):
       # Windows .bat scripts use ^ as escape sequence, which means we have to
       # escape it with itself for every .bat invocation.
-      needle = '%s^^^^{commit}' % rev
+      needle = '%s^^{commit}' % rev
     else:
       needle = '%s^{commit}' % rev
     try:
-      sha = GIT.Capture(['rev-parse', '--verify', needle], cwd=cwd)
-      if sha_only:
-        return sha == rev.lower()
-      return True
+      return GIT.Capture(['rev-parse', '--quiet', '--verify', needle], cwd=cwd)
     except subprocess2.CalledProcessError:
+      return None
+
+  @staticmethod
+  def IsValidRevision(cwd, rev, sha_only=False):
+    """Verifies the revision is a proper git revision.
+
+    sha_only: Fail unless rev is a sha hash.
+    """
+    sha = GIT.ResolveCommit(cwd, rev)
+    if sha is None:
       return False
+    if sha_only:
+      return sha == rev.lower()
+    return True
 
   @classmethod
   def AssertVersion(cls, min_version):
diff --git a/tests/scm_unittest.py b/tests/scm_unittest.py
index 70453467c..41cc3b9ec 100755
--- a/tests/scm_unittest.py
+++ b/tests/scm_unittest.py
@@ -92,6 +92,14 @@ class RealGitTest(fake_repos.FakeReposTestBase):
     else:
       self.skipTest('git fake repos not available')
 
+  def testResolveCommit(self):
+    self.assertIsNone(scm.GIT.ResolveCommit(self.cwd, 'zebra'))
+    self.assertIsNone(scm.GIT.ResolveCommit(self.cwd, 'r123456'))
+    first_rev = self.githash('repo_1', 1)
+    self.assertEqual(first_rev, scm.GIT.ResolveCommit(self.cwd, first_rev))
+    self.assertEqual(
+        self.githash('repo_1', 2), scm.GIT.ResolveCommit(self.cwd, 'HEAD'))
+
   def testIsValidRevision(self):
     # Sha1's are [0-9a-z]{32}, so starting with a 'z' or 'r' should always fail.
     self.assertFalse(scm.GIT.IsValidRevision(cwd=self.cwd, rev='zebra'))