diff --git a/Converter/PackageUtil.php b/Converter/PackageUtil.php
index 916d62f5..4ca2f5c6 100644
--- a/Converter/PackageUtil.php
+++ b/Converter/PackageUtil.php
@@ -139,10 +139,9 @@ public static function checkAliasVersion(AssetTypeInterface $assetType, $depende
      */
     public static function convertDependencyVersion(AssetTypeInterface $assetType, $dependency, $version)
     {
-        $containsHash = strpos($version, '#') !== false;
+        $containsHash = false !== strpos($version, '#');
         $version = str_replace('#', '', $version);
-        $version = empty($version) ? '*' : $version;
-        $version = trim($version);
+        $version = empty($version) ? '*' : trim($version);
         $searchVersion = str_replace(array(' ', '<', '>', '=', '^', '~'), '', $version);
 
         // sha version or branch version
@@ -150,12 +149,7 @@ public static function convertDependencyVersion(AssetTypeInterface $assetType, $
         if ($containsHash && preg_match('{^[0-9a-f]{4,40}$}', $version)) {
             $version = 'dev-default#'.$version;
         } elseif ('*' !== $version && !Validator::validateTag($searchVersion, $assetType) && !static::depIsRange($version)) {
-            $oldVersion = $version;
-            $version = 'dev-'.$assetType->getVersionConverter()->convertVersion($version);
-
-            if (!Validator::validateBranch($oldVersion)) {
-                $version .= ' || '.$oldVersion;
-            }
+            $version = static::convertBrachVersion($assetType, $version);
         }
 
         return array($dependency, $version);
@@ -304,4 +298,24 @@ protected static function depIsRange($version)
 
         return (bool) preg_match('/[\<\>\=\^\~\ ]/', $version);
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Convert the dependency branch version.
+     *
+     * @param AssetTypeInterface $assetType The asset type
+     * @param string             $version   The version
+     *
+     * @return string
+     */
+    protected static function convertBrachVersion(AssetTypeInterface $assetType, $version)
+    {
+        $oldVersion = $version;
+        $version = 'dev-'.$assetType->getVersionConverter()->convertVersion($version);
+
+        if (!Validator::validateBranch($oldVersion)) {
+            $version .= ' || '.$oldVersion;
+        }
+
+        return $version;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/Repository/Vcs/GitDriver.php b/Repository/Vcs/GitDriver.php
index 421e8561..67e79115 100644
--- a/Repository/Vcs/GitDriver.php
+++ b/Repository/Vcs/GitDriver.php
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 use Composer\Repository\Vcs\GitDriver as BaseGitDriver;
 use Composer\Util\Filesystem;
 use Composer\Util\Git as GitUtil;
+use Fxp\Composer\AssetPlugin\Repository\AssetRepositoryManager;
 
 /**
  * Git vcs driver.
@@ -46,8 +47,8 @@ public function initialize()
     {
         /* @var AssetRepositoryManager $arm */
         $arm = $this->repoConfig['asset-repository-manager'];
-
         $skipSync = false;
+
         if (null !== ($skip = $arm->getConfig()->get('git-skip-update'))) {
             $localUrl = $this->config->get('cache-vcs-dir').'/'.preg_replace('{[^a-z0-9.]}i', '-', $this->url).'/';
             // check if local copy exists and if it is a git repository and that modification time is within threshold
@@ -57,39 +58,56 @@ public function initialize()
             }
         }
 
-        // copied from parent::initialize()
-        if (Filesystem::isLocalPath($this->url)) {
-            $this->url = preg_replace('{[\\/]\.git/?$}', '', $this->url);
-            $this->repoDir = $this->url;
-            $cacheUrl = realpath($this->url);
-        } else {
-            $this->repoDir = $this->config->get('cache-vcs-dir') . '/' . preg_replace('{[^a-z0-9.]}i', '-', $this->url) . '/';
+        $cacheUrl = Filesystem::isLocalPath($this->url)
+            ? $this->initializeLocalPath() : $this->initializeRemotePath($skipSync);
+        $this->getTags();
+        $this->getBranches();
+        $this->cache = new Cache($this->io, $this->config->get('cache-repo-dir').'/'.preg_replace('{[^a-z0-9.]}i', '-', $cacheUrl));
+    }
 
-            GitUtil::cleanEnv();
+    /**
+     * Initialize the local path.
+     *
+     * @return string
+     */
+    private function initializeLocalPath()
+    {
+        $this->url = preg_replace('{[\\/]\.git/?$}', '', $this->url);
+        $this->repoDir = $this->url;
 
-            $fs = new Filesystem();
-            $fs->ensureDirectoryExists(dirname($this->repoDir));
+        return realpath($this->url);
+    }
 
-            if (!is_writable(dirname($this->repoDir))) {
-                throw new \RuntimeException('Can not clone '.$this->url.' to access package information. The "'.dirname($this->repoDir).'" directory is not writable by the current user.');
-            }
+    /**
+     * Initialize the remote path.
+     *
+     * @param bool $skipSync Check if sync must be skipped
+     *
+     * @return string
+     */
+    private function initializeRemotePath($skipSync)
+    {
+        $this->repoDir = $this->config->get('cache-vcs-dir').'/'.preg_replace('{[^a-z0-9.]}i', '-', $this->url).'/';
 
-            if (preg_match('{^ssh://[^@]+@[^:]+:[^0-9]+}', $this->url)) {
-                throw new \InvalidArgumentException('The source URL '.$this->url.' is invalid, ssh URLs should have a port number after ":".'."\n".'Use ssh://git@example.com:22/path or just git@example.com:path if you do not want to provide a password or custom port.');
-            }
+        GitUtil::cleanEnv();
 
-            $gitUtil = new GitUtil($this->io, $this->config, $this->process, $fs);
-            // patched line, sync from local dir without modifying url
-            if (!$skipSync && !$gitUtil->syncMirror($this->url, $this->repoDir)) {
-                $this->io->writeError('<error>Failed to update '.$this->url.', package information from this repository may be outdated</error>');
-            }
+        $fs = new Filesystem();
+        $fs->ensureDirectoryExists(dirname($this->repoDir));
 
-            $cacheUrl = $this->url;
+        if (!is_writable(dirname($this->repoDir))) {
+            throw new \RuntimeException('Can not clone '.$this->url.' to access package information. The "'.dirname($this->repoDir).'" directory is not writable by the current user.');
         }
 
-        $this->getTags();
-        $this->getBranches();
+        if (preg_match('{^ssh://[^@]+@[^:]+:[^0-9]+}', $this->url)) {
+            throw new \InvalidArgumentException('The source URL '.$this->url.' is invalid, ssh URLs should have a port number after ":".'."\n".'Use ssh://git@example.com:22/path or just git@example.com:path if you do not want to provide a password or custom port.');
+        }
 
-        $this->cache = new Cache($this->io, $this->config->get('cache-repo-dir').'/'.preg_replace('{[^a-z0-9.]}i', '-', $cacheUrl));
+        $gitUtil = new GitUtil($this->io, $this->config, $this->process, $fs);
+        // patched line, sync from local dir without modifying url
+        if (!$skipSync && !$gitUtil->syncMirror($this->url, $this->repoDir)) {
+            $this->io->writeError('<error>Failed to update '.$this->url.', package information from this repository may be outdated</error>');
+        }
+
+        return $this->url;
     }
 }