diff --git a/git/cmd.py b/git/cmd.py
index 9d4006b9d..9ef1e3a65 100644
--- a/git/cmd.py
+++ b/git/cmd.py
@@ -488,12 +488,12 @@ def check_unsafe_options(cls, options: List[str], unsafe_options: List[str]) ->
         """
         # Options can be of the form `foo` or `--foo bar` `--foo=bar`,
         # so we need to check if they start with "--foo" or if they are equal to "foo".
-        bare_options = [
+        bare_unsafe_options = [
             option.lstrip("-")
             for option in unsafe_options
         ]
         for option in options:
-            for unsafe_option, bare_option in zip(unsafe_options, bare_options):
+            for unsafe_option, bare_option in zip(unsafe_options, bare_unsafe_options):
                 if option.startswith(unsafe_option) or option == bare_option:
                     raise UnsafeOptionError(
                         f"{unsafe_option} is not allowed, use `allow_unsafe_options=True` to allow it."
@@ -1193,12 +1193,12 @@ def transform_kwargs(self, split_single_char_options: bool = True, **kwargs: Any
         return args
 
     @classmethod
-    def __unpack_args(cls, arg_list: Sequence[str]) -> List[str]:
+    def _unpack_args(cls, arg_list: Sequence[str]) -> List[str]:
 
         outlist = []
         if isinstance(arg_list, (list, tuple)):
             for arg in arg_list:
-                outlist.extend(cls.__unpack_args(arg))
+                outlist.extend(cls._unpack_args(arg))
         else:
             outlist.append(str(arg_list))
 
@@ -1283,7 +1283,7 @@ def _call_process(
         # Prepare the argument list
 
         opt_args = self.transform_kwargs(**opts_kwargs)
-        ext_args = self.__unpack_args([a for a in args if a is not None])
+        ext_args = self._unpack_args([a for a in args if a is not None])
 
         if insert_after_this_arg is None:
             args_list = opt_args + ext_args
diff --git a/git/remote.py b/git/remote.py
index 1eff00b96..520544b66 100644
--- a/git/remote.py
+++ b/git/remote.py
@@ -1029,12 +1029,11 @@ def pull(
             self._assert_refspec()
         kwargs = add_progress(kwargs, self.repo.git, progress)
 
-        if not allow_unsafe_protocols and refspec:
-            if isinstance(refspec, str):
-                Git.check_unsafe_protocols(refspec)
-            else:
-                for ref in refspec:
-                    Git.check_unsafe_protocols(ref)
+        refspec = Git._unpack_args(refspec or [])
+        if not allow_unsafe_protocols:
+            for ref in refspec:
+                Git.check_unsafe_protocols(ref)
+
         if not allow_unsafe_options:
             Git.check_unsafe_options(options=list(kwargs.keys()), unsafe_options=self.unsafe_git_pull_options)
 
@@ -1084,12 +1083,10 @@ def push(
             be 0."""
         kwargs = add_progress(kwargs, self.repo.git, progress)
 
-        if not allow_unsafe_protocols and refspec:
-            if isinstance(refspec, str):
-                Git.check_unsafe_protocols(refspec)
-            else:
-                for ref in refspec:
-                    Git.check_unsafe_protocols(ref)
+        refspec = Git._unpack_args(refspec or [])
+        if not allow_unsafe_protocols:
+            for ref in refspec:
+                Git.check_unsafe_protocols(ref)
 
         if not allow_unsafe_options:
             Git.check_unsafe_options(options=list(kwargs.keys()), unsafe_options=self.unsafe_git_push_options)
diff --git a/test/test_git.py b/test/test_git.py
index 6ba833b4a..e7d236deb 100644
--- a/test/test_git.py
+++ b/test/test_git.py
@@ -39,12 +39,12 @@ def test_call_process_calls_execute(self, git):
         self.assertEqual(git.call_args, ((["git", "version"],), {}))
 
     def test_call_unpack_args_unicode(self):
-        args = Git._Git__unpack_args("Unicode€™")
+        args = Git._unpack_args("Unicode€™")
         mangled_value = "Unicode\u20ac\u2122"
         self.assertEqual(args, [mangled_value])
 
     def test_call_unpack_args(self):
-        args = Git._Git__unpack_args(["git", "log", "--", "Unicode€™"])
+        args = Git._unpack_args(["git", "log", "--", "Unicode€™"])
         mangled_value = "Unicode\u20ac\u2122"
         self.assertEqual(args, ["git", "log", "--", mangled_value])