diff --git a/lib/src/default_revset_engine.rs b/lib/src/default_revset_engine.rs
index d61792c09..4026ab074 100644
--- a/lib/src/default_revset_engine.rs
+++ b/lib/src/default_revset_engine.rs
@@ -536,6 +536,8 @@ pub fn evaluate<'index>(
     Ok(Box::new(revset_impl))
 }
 
+// TODO: delete unused workspace_ctx argument
+#[allow(clippy::only_used_in_recursion)]
 fn evaluate_impl<'index>(
     repo: &'index dyn Repo,
     expression: &RevsetExpression,
@@ -559,8 +561,7 @@ fn evaluate_impl<'index>(
         }
         RevsetExpression::Commits(commit_ids) => Ok(revset_for_commit_ids(repo, commit_ids)),
         RevsetExpression::Symbol(symbol) => {
-            let commit_ids = resolve_symbol(repo, symbol, workspace_ctx.map(|c| c.workspace_id))?;
-            evaluate_impl(repo, &RevsetExpression::Commits(commit_ids), workspace_ctx)
+            panic!("Symbol '{}' should have been resolved by caller", symbol);
         }
         RevsetExpression::Children(roots) => {
             let root_set = evaluate_impl(repo, roots, workspace_ctx)?;
diff --git a/lib/src/revset.rs b/lib/src/revset.rs
index f16aeaa84..18ddc3410 100644
--- a/lib/src/revset.rs
+++ b/lib/src/revset.rs
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ use thiserror::Error;
 use crate::backend::{BackendError, BackendResult, CommitId};
 use crate::commit::Commit;
 use crate::default_index_store::{IndexEntry, IndexPosition};
+use crate::default_revset_engine::resolve_symbol;
 use crate::op_store::WorkspaceId;
 use crate::repo::Repo;
 use crate::repo_path::{FsPathParseError, RepoPath};
@@ -1112,9 +1113,14 @@ fn try_transform_expression_bottom_up(
             RevsetExpression::AsFilter(candidates) => {
                 transform_rec(candidates, f)?.map(RevsetExpression::AsFilter)
             }
-            RevsetExpression::Present(candidates) => {
-                transform_rec(candidates, f)?.map(RevsetExpression::Present)
-            }
+            RevsetExpression::Present(candidates) => match transform_rec(candidates, f) {
+                Ok(None) => None,
+                Ok(Some(expression)) => Some(RevsetExpression::Present(expression)),
+                Err(RevsetError::NoSuchRevision(_)) => Some(RevsetExpression::None),
+                r @ Err(RevsetError::AmbiguousIdPrefix(_) | RevsetError::StoreError(_)) => {
+                    return r;
+                }
+            },
             RevsetExpression::NotIn(complement) => {
                 transform_rec(complement, f)?.map(RevsetExpression::NotIn)
             }
@@ -1385,6 +1391,29 @@ pub fn optimize(expression: Rc<RevsetExpression>) -> Rc<RevsetExpression> {
     fold_difference(&expression).unwrap_or(expression)
 }
 
+// TODO: Maybe return a new type (RevsetParameters?) instead of
+// RevsetExpression. Then pass that to evaluate(), so it's clear which variants
+// are allowed.
+pub fn resolve_symbols(
+    repo: &dyn Repo,
+    expression: Rc<RevsetExpression>,
+    workspace_ctx: Option<&RevsetWorkspaceContext>,
+) -> Result<Rc<RevsetExpression>, RevsetError> {
+    Ok(
+        try_transform_expression_bottom_up(&expression, |expression| {
+            Ok(match expression.as_ref() {
+                RevsetExpression::Symbol(symbol) => {
+                    let commit_ids =
+                        resolve_symbol(repo, symbol, workspace_ctx.map(|ctx| ctx.workspace_id))?;
+                    Some(RevsetExpression::commits(commit_ids))
+                }
+                _ => None,
+            })
+        })?
+        .unwrap_or(expression),
+    )
+}
+
 pub trait Revset<'index> {
     // All revsets currently iterate in order of descending index position
     fn iter(&self) -> Box<dyn Iterator<Item = IndexEntry<'index>> + '_>;
diff --git a/lib/tests/test_revset.rs b/lib/tests/test_revset.rs
index ad9862dc6..b2f5a6766 100644
--- a/lib/tests/test_revset.rs
+++ b/lib/tests/test_revset.rs
@@ -23,8 +23,9 @@ use jujutsu_lib::op_store::{RefTarget, WorkspaceId};
 use jujutsu_lib::repo::Repo;
 use jujutsu_lib::repo_path::RepoPath;
 use jujutsu_lib::revset::{
-    optimize, parse, ReverseRevsetGraphIterator, RevsetAliasesMap, RevsetError, RevsetExpression,
-    RevsetFilterPredicate, RevsetGraphEdge, RevsetIteratorExt, RevsetWorkspaceContext,
+    optimize, parse, resolve_symbols, ReverseRevsetGraphIterator, RevsetAliasesMap, RevsetError,
+    RevsetExpression, RevsetFilterPredicate, RevsetGraphEdge, RevsetIteratorExt,
+    RevsetWorkspaceContext,
 };
 use jujutsu_lib::settings::GitSettings;
 use jujutsu_lib::workspace::Workspace;
@@ -146,9 +147,7 @@ fn test_resolve_symbol_commit_id() {
     // Test present() suppresses only NoSuchRevision error
     assert_eq!(resolve_commit_ids(&repo, "present(foo)"), []);
     assert_matches!(
-        optimize(parse("present(04)", &RevsetAliasesMap::new(), None).unwrap())
-            .evaluate(&repo, None)
-            .map(|_| ()),
+        resolve_symbols(&repo, optimize(parse("present(04)", &RevsetAliasesMap::new(), None).unwrap()), None),
         Err(RevsetError::AmbiguousIdPrefix(s)) if s == "04"
     );
     assert_eq!(
@@ -478,6 +477,7 @@ fn test_resolve_symbol_git_refs() {
 
 fn resolve_commit_ids(repo: &dyn Repo, revset_str: &str) -> Vec<CommitId> {
     let expression = optimize(parse(revset_str, &RevsetAliasesMap::new(), None).unwrap());
+    let expression = resolve_symbols(repo, expression, None).unwrap();
     expression
         .evaluate(repo, None)
         .unwrap()
@@ -499,6 +499,7 @@ fn resolve_commit_ids_in_workspace(
     };
     let expression =
         optimize(parse(revset_str, &RevsetAliasesMap::new(), Some(&workspace_ctx)).unwrap());
+    let expression = resolve_symbols(repo, expression, Some(&workspace_ctx)).unwrap();
     expression
         .evaluate(repo, Some(&workspace_ctx))
         .unwrap()
diff --git a/src/cli_util.rs b/src/cli_util.rs
index a5e7abbb4..fd5fab77e 100644
--- a/src/cli_util.rs
+++ b/src/cli_util.rs
@@ -44,8 +44,8 @@ use jujutsu_lib::repo::{
 };
 use jujutsu_lib::repo_path::{FsPathParseError, RepoPath};
 use jujutsu_lib::revset::{
-    Revset, RevsetAliasesMap, RevsetError, RevsetExpression, RevsetIteratorExt, RevsetParseError,
-    RevsetWorkspaceContext,
+    resolve_symbols, Revset, RevsetAliasesMap, RevsetError, RevsetExpression, RevsetIteratorExt,
+    RevsetParseError, RevsetWorkspaceContext,
 };
 use jujutsu_lib::settings::UserSettings;
 use jujutsu_lib::transaction::Transaction;
@@ -827,6 +827,8 @@ impl WorkspaceCommandHelper {
         &'repo self,
         revset_expression: Rc<RevsetExpression>,
     ) -> Result<Box<dyn Revset<'repo> + 'repo>, RevsetError> {
+        let revset_expression =
+            resolve_symbols(&self.repo, revset_expression, Some(&self.revset_context()))?;
         revset_expression.evaluate(&self.repo, Some(&self.revset_context()))
     }