diff --git a/GitBranchStateCache.Tests/Refs/BranchPatternTests.cs b/GitBranchStateCache.Tests/Refs/BranchPatternTests.cs
index d29108f..ed47fcd 100644
--- a/GitBranchStateCache.Tests/Refs/BranchPatternTests.cs
+++ b/GitBranchStateCache.Tests/Refs/BranchPatternTests.cs
@@ -78,6 +78,87 @@ public void Matches_RegularExpressionMetacharacters_AreLiteral()
 		Assert.IsFalse(Parse("origin/v1.0").Matches("origin/v1x0"));
 	}
 
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void Matches_BracketRange_MatchesTheWayGitBranchListDoes()
+	{
+		// The shape a StatusBranchNamePatterns entry takes in the field. git branch --list honours the
+		// bracket expression, so the service has to, or those branches silently drop out of /state.
+		BranchPattern pattern = Parse("origin/release-[0-9]*");
+
+		Assert.IsTrue(pattern.Matches("origin/release-1.0"));
+		Assert.IsTrue(pattern.Matches("origin/release-2026"));
+		Assert.IsFalse(pattern.Matches("origin/release-x"));
+	}
+
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void Matches_BracketSet_MatchesAnyMember()
+	{
+		BranchPattern pattern = Parse("origin/[abc]");
+
+		Assert.IsTrue(pattern.Matches("origin/a"));
+		Assert.IsTrue(pattern.Matches("origin/c"));
+		Assert.IsFalse(pattern.Matches("origin/d"));
+		Assert.IsFalse(pattern.Matches("origin/ab"));
+	}
+
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void Matches_NegatedBracket_AcceptsBangAndCaret()
+	{
+		foreach (string text in new[] { "origin/[!x]y", "origin/[^x]y" })
+		{
+			BranchPattern pattern = Parse(text);
+
+			Assert.IsTrue(pattern.Matches("origin/ay"), text);
+			Assert.IsFalse(pattern.Matches("origin/xy"), text);
+		}
+	}
+
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void Matches_CloseBracketFirst_IsAMember()
+	{
+		Assert.IsTrue(Parse("a[]b]c").Matches("a]c"));
+		Assert.IsTrue(Parse("a[]b]c").Matches("abc"));
+		Assert.IsFalse(Parse("a[!]]c").Matches("a]c"));
+		Assert.IsTrue(Parse("a[!]]c").Matches("abc"));
+	}
+
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void Matches_DashAtEitherEnd_IsAMember()
+	{
+		Assert.IsTrue(Parse("v[-.]1").Matches("v-1"));
+		Assert.IsTrue(Parse("v[.-]1").Matches("v-1"));
+		Assert.IsFalse(Parse("v[.-]1").Matches("v/1"));
+	}
+
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void Matches_Backslash_EscapesTheNextCharacter()
+	{
+		Assert.IsTrue(Parse(@"origin/a\*b").Matches("origin/a*b"));
+		Assert.IsFalse(Parse(@"origin/a\*b").Matches("origin/axyb"));
+		Assert.IsTrue(Parse(@"origin/\[x]").Matches("origin/[x]"));
+		Assert.IsFalse(Parse(@"origin/\[x]").Matches("origin/x"));
+		Assert.IsTrue(Parse(@"origin/[\]]").Matches("origin/]"));
+	}
+
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void Matches_UnclosedBracket_IsLiteral()
+	{
+		Assert.IsTrue(Parse("origin/[main").Matches("origin/[main"));
+		Assert.IsFalse(Parse("origin/[main").Matches("origin/main"));
+	}
+
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void Matches_BracketAfterWildcard_BacktracksCorrectly() =>
+		Assert.IsTrue(Parse("*/v[0-9].[0-9]").Matches("origin/feature/v1.2"));
+
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void Matches_PathologicalBracketPattern_StillReturnsPromptly()
+	{
+		BranchPattern pattern = Parse(string.Concat(Enumerable.Repeat("*[a-y]", 40)) + "z");
+
+		Assert.IsFalse(pattern.Matches(new string('a', 4000)));
+	}
+
 	[TestMethod]
 	public void Matches_PathologicalPattern_StillReturnsPromptly()
 	{
diff --git a/GitBranchStateCache/Refs/BranchPattern.cs b/GitBranchStateCache/Refs/BranchPattern.cs
index 4584985..ceda248 100644
--- a/GitBranchStateCache/Refs/BranchPattern.cs
+++ b/GitBranchStateCache/Refs/BranchPattern.cs
@@ -19,6 +19,12 @@ namespace ktsu.GitBranchStateCache.Refs;
 /// matcher backtracks at most once per wildcard and cannot be made to run long.
 /// </para>
 /// <para>
+/// The same constructs git's wildmatch honours for <c>git branch --list</c> are honoured here:
+/// <c>*</c>, <c>?</c>, bracket expressions such as <c>[0-9]</c>, <c>[abc]</c>, <c>[!x]</c> and
+/// <c>[^x]</c> (a <c>]</c> placed first is literal), and <c>\</c> to escape the next character. A
+/// <c>[</c> with no closing <c>]</c> is an ordinary character.
+/// </para>
+/// <para>
 /// Matching is case sensitive, because git ref names are.
 /// </para>
 /// </remarks>
@@ -81,8 +87,9 @@ public bool Matches(string branchName)
 	/// <remarks>
 	/// The classic linear wildcard match: walk both sides together, and on a mismatch fall back to the
 	/// most recent star and let it consume one more character. Because only the most recent star is
-	/// ever revisited, the work is bounded by the product of the two lengths in the worst case and is
-	/// linear in practice, with no recursion and nothing to backtrack exponentially.
+	/// ever revisited, the work is bounded by the product of the two lengths (times the length of a
+	/// bracket expression, which is itself bounded by the pattern) and is linear in practice, with no
+	/// recursion and nothing to backtrack exponentially.
 	/// </remarks>
 	private static bool Matches(ReadOnlySpan<char> pattern, ReadOnlySpan<char> name)
 	{
@@ -93,17 +100,17 @@ private static bool Matches(ReadOnlySpan<char> pattern, ReadOnlySpan<char> name)
 
 		while (nameIndex < name.Length)
 		{
-			if (patternIndex < pattern.Length && (pattern[patternIndex] == '?' || pattern[patternIndex] == name[nameIndex]))
-			{
-				patternIndex++;
-				nameIndex++;
-			}
-			else if (patternIndex < pattern.Length && pattern[patternIndex] == '*')
+			if (patternIndex < pattern.Length && pattern[patternIndex] == '*')
 			{
 				starIndex = patternIndex;
 				resumeIndex = nameIndex;
 				patternIndex++;
 			}
+			else if (patternIndex < pattern.Length && MatchesOne(pattern, patternIndex, name[nameIndex], out int length))
+			{
+				patternIndex += length;
+				nameIndex++;
+			}
 			else if (starIndex >= 0)
 			{
 				patternIndex = starIndex + 1;
@@ -123,4 +130,149 @@ private static bool Matches(ReadOnlySpan<char> pattern, ReadOnlySpan<char> name)
 
 		return patternIndex == pattern.Length;
 	}
+
+	/// <summary>
+	/// Matches the one pattern element starting at <paramref name="index"/> against one character.
+	/// </summary>
+	/// <param name="pattern">The whole pattern.</param>
+	/// <param name="index">Where the element starts. It is not a star.</param>
+	/// <param name="character">The character from the name.</param>
+	/// <param name="length">How many pattern characters the element spans.</param>
+	/// <returns><see langword="true"/> when the element matches the character.</returns>
+	private static bool MatchesOne(ReadOnlySpan<char> pattern, int index, char character, out int length)
+	{
+		char element = pattern[index];
+
+		if (element == '?')
+		{
+			length = 1;
+			return true;
+		}
+
+		if (element == '\\' && index + 1 < pattern.Length)
+		{
+			length = 2;
+			return pattern[index + 1] == character;
+		}
+
+		if (element == '[' && TryMatchBracket(pattern, index, character, out length, out bool matched))
+		{
+			return matched;
+		}
+
+		length = 1;
+		return element == character;
+	}
+
+	/// <summary>
+	/// Matches a bracket expression such as <c>[0-9]</c> or <c>[!abc]</c> against one character.
+	/// </summary>
+	/// <param name="pattern">The whole pattern.</param>
+	/// <param name="start">Where the opening <c>[</c> is.</param>
+	/// <param name="character">The character from the name.</param>
+	/// <param name="length">How many pattern characters the expression spans, including both brackets.</param>
+	/// <param name="matched">Whether the expression matches the character.</param>
+	/// <returns>
+	/// <see langword="false"/> when the bracket is never closed, in which case the <c>[</c> is an
+	/// ordinary character.
+	/// </returns>
+	private static bool TryMatchBracket(ReadOnlySpan<char> pattern, int start, char character, out int length, out bool matched)
+	{
+		int index = start + 1;
+		bool negated = index < pattern.Length && (pattern[index] == '!' || pattern[index] == '^');
+		if (negated)
+		{
+			index++;
+		}
+
+		bool found = false;
+		bool first = true;
+
+		// A ] straight after the opening bracket (or its negation) is a member, not the end.
+		while (index < pattern.Length && (first || pattern[index] != ']'))
+		{
+			first = false;
+
+			if (!TryReadRange(pattern, ref index, out char low, out char high))
+			{
+				break;
+			}
+
+			found |= low <= character && character <= high;
+		}
+
+		if (index >= pattern.Length)
+		{
+			length = 1;
+			matched = false;
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		length = index + 1 - start;
+		matched = found != negated;
+		return true;
+	}
+
+	/// <summary>
+	/// Reads one member of a bracket expression: a single character, or a range such as <c>a-z</c>.
+	/// </summary>
+	/// <param name="pattern">The whole pattern.</param>
+	/// <param name="index">Where the member starts; moved past it.</param>
+	/// <param name="low">The first character the member covers.</param>
+	/// <param name="high">The last character the member covers; equal to <paramref name="low"/> for a single character.</param>
+	/// <returns>
+	/// <see langword="false"/> when the pattern ends in a lone backslash, which leaves the bracket
+	/// unclosed.
+	/// </returns>
+	/// <remarks>
+	/// A <c>-</c> directly before the closing <c>]</c> is an ordinary member, not the start of a range.
+	/// </remarks>
+	private static bool TryReadRange(ReadOnlySpan<char> pattern, ref int index, out char low, out char high)
+	{
+		if (!TryReadMember(pattern, ref index, out low))
+		{
+			high = default;
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		high = low;
+		if (index + 1 < pattern.Length && pattern[index] == '-' && pattern[index + 1] != ']')
+		{
+			index++;
+			return TryReadMember(pattern, ref index, out high);
+		}
+
+		return true;
+	}
+
+	/// <summary>
+	/// Reads one member character of a bracket expression, honouring a backslash escape.
+	/// </summary>
+	/// <param name="pattern">The whole pattern.</param>
+	/// <param name="index">Where the member starts; moved past it.</param>
+	/// <param name="value">The member character.</param>
+	/// <returns>
+	/// <see langword="false"/> when the pattern ends in a lone backslash, which leaves the bracket
+	/// unclosed.
+	/// </returns>
+	private static bool TryReadMember(ReadOnlySpan<char> pattern, ref int index, out char value)
+	{
+		if (pattern[index] == '\\')
+		{
+			if (index + 1 >= pattern.Length)
+			{
+				index = pattern.Length;
+				value = default;
+				return false;
+			}
+
+			value = pattern[index + 1];
+			index += 2;
+			return true;
+		}
+
+		value = pattern[index];
+		index++;
+		return true;
+	}
 }