diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/spec.py b/lib/spack/spack/spec.py
index b391d2c563b..cf5c56f31a7 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/spec.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/spec.py
@@ -2866,7 +2866,7 @@ def _validate_version(self):
             v.ref_version
         except vn.VersionLookupError:
             before = self.cformat("{name}{@version}{/hash:7}")
-            v._ref_version = vn.StandardVersion.from_string("develop")
+            v.std_version = vn.StandardVersion.from_string("develop")
             tty.debug(
                 f"the git sha of {before} could not be resolved to spack version; "
                 f"it has been replaced by {self.cformat('{name}{@version}{/hash:7}')}."
@@ -4428,7 +4428,7 @@ def attach_git_version_lookup(self):
         if not self.name:
             return
         for v in self.versions:
-            if isinstance(v, vn.GitVersion) and v._ref_version is None:
+            if isinstance(v, vn.GitVersion) and v.std_version is None:
                 v.attach_lookup(spack.version.git_ref_lookup.GitRefLookup(self.fullname))
 
 
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/test/conftest.py b/lib/spack/spack/test/conftest.py
index 775985ccc03..863cb1c5249 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/test/conftest.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/test/conftest.py
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ def mock_git_version_info(git, tmpdir, override_git_repos_cache_path):
        o second commit (v1.0)
        o first commit
 
-    The repo consists of a single file, in which the GitVersion._ref_version representation
+    The repo consists of a single file, in which the GitVersion.std_version representation
     of each commit is expressed as a string.
 
     Important attributes of the repo for test coverage are: multiple branches,
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/test/versions.py b/lib/spack/spack/test/versions.py
index de8377b9328..f78d61632fd 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/test/versions.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/test/versions.py
@@ -832,13 +832,13 @@ def test_git_versions_store_ref_requests(pre_equal, post_equal):
     v = Version(vstring)
 
     assert isinstance(v, GitVersion)
-    assert v.requested_ref == pre_equal
+    assert v.ref == pre_equal
 
     if post_equal:
         assert v.std_version == Version(post_equal)
 
     if v.is_commit:
-        assert v.requested_ref == v.commit_sha
+        assert v.ref == v.commit_sha
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "vstring, eq_vstring, is_commit",
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/version/version_types.py b/lib/spack/spack/version/version_types.py
index 53f10b722f5..e2a7f26b35f 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/version/version_types.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/version/version_types.py
@@ -548,20 +548,20 @@ class GitVersion(ConcreteVersion):
     sufficient.
     """
 
-    __slots__ = ["ref", "has_git_prefix", "is_commit", "_ref_lookup", "_ref_version"]
+    __slots__ = ["has_git_prefix", "commit_sha", "ref", "std_version", "_ref_lookup"]
 
     def __init__(self, string: str):
-        # WIP refactor
-        self.requested_ref: Optional[String] = None
+
+        # TODO will be required for concrete specs when commit lookup added
         self.commit_sha: Optional[String] = None
         self.std_version: Optional[StandardVersion] = None
 
+        # optional user supplied git ref
+        self.ref: Optional[String] = None
+
         # An object that can lookup git refs to compare them to versions
         self._ref_lookup: Optional[AbstractRefLookup] = None
 
-        # This is the effective version.
-        self._ref_version: Optional[StandardVersion]
-
         self.has_git_prefix = string.startswith("git.")
 
         # Drop `git.` prefix
@@ -570,28 +570,27 @@ def __init__(self, string: str):
         if "=" in normalized_string:
             # Store the git reference, and parse the user provided version.
             self.ref, spack_version = normalized_string.split("=")
-            self._ref_version = StandardVersion(
+            self.std_version = StandardVersion(
                 spack_version, *parse_string_components(spack_version)
             )
         else:
             # The ref_version is lazily attached after parsing, since we don't know what
             # package it applies to here.
-            self._ref_version = None
+            self.std_version = None
             self.ref = normalized_string
 
         # Used by fetcher
         self.is_commit: bool = len(self.ref) == 40 and bool(COMMIT_VERSION.match(self.ref))
 
-        self.requested_ref = self.ref
-        self.std_version = self._ref_version
+        # translations
         if self.is_commit:
             self.commit_sha = self.ref
 
     @property
     def ref_version(self) -> StandardVersion:
         # Return cached version if we have it
-        if self._ref_version is not None:
-            return self._ref_version
+        if self.std_version is not None:
+            return self.std_version
 
         if self.ref_lookup is None:
             raise VersionLookupError(
@@ -604,10 +603,10 @@ def ref_version(self) -> StandardVersion:
         # Add a -git.<distance> suffix when we're not exactly on a tag
         if distance > 0:
             version_string += f"-git.{distance}"
-        self._ref_version = StandardVersion(
+        self.std_version = StandardVersion(
             version_string, *parse_string_components(version_string)
         )
-        return self._ref_version
+        return self.std_version
 
     def intersects(self, other: VersionType) -> bool:
         # For concrete things intersects = satisfies = equality