diff --git a/dvc/repo/brancher.py b/dvc/repo/brancher.py
index c88f2abf0..6b78d62fb 100644
--- a/dvc/repo/brancher.py
+++ b/dvc/repo/brancher.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+from functools import partial
+
 from funcy import group_by
 
 
@@ -58,7 +60,10 @@ def brancher(  # noqa: E302
 
     try:
         if revs:
-            for sha, names in group_by(scm.resolve_rev, revs).items():
+            from dvc.scm import resolve_rev
+
+            rev_resolver = partial(resolve_rev, scm)
+            for sha, names in group_by(rev_resolver, revs).items():
                 self.fs = scm.get_fs(sha)
                 # ignore revs that don't contain repo root
                 # (i.e. revs from before a subdir=True repo was init'ed)
diff --git a/dvc/repo/experiments/__init__.py b/dvc/repo/experiments/__init__.py
index 4c2cadf68..417c85178 100644
--- a/dvc/repo/experiments/__init__.py
+++ b/dvc/repo/experiments/__init__.py
@@ -409,7 +409,9 @@ class Experiments:
                 self.scm.reset()
 
         if checkpoint_resume:
-            resume_rev = self.scm.resolve_rev(checkpoint_resume)
+            from dvc.scm import resolve_rev
+
+            resume_rev = resolve_rev(self.scm, checkpoint_resume)
             try:
                 self.check_baseline(resume_rev)
                 checkpoint_resume = resume_rev
@@ -879,7 +881,9 @@ class Experiments:
         return self._get_baseline(rev)
 
     def _get_baseline(self, rev):
-        rev = self.scm.resolve_rev(rev)
+        from dvc.scm import resolve_rev
+
+        rev = resolve_rev(self.scm, rev)
 
         if rev in self.stash_revs:
             entry = self.stash_revs.get(rev)
diff --git a/dvc/repo/experiments/apply.py b/dvc/repo/experiments/apply.py
index 88f657f97..af4f42671 100644
--- a/dvc/repo/experiments/apply.py
+++ b/dvc/repo/experiments/apply.py
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ import os
 
 from dvc.repo import locked
 from dvc.repo.scm_context import scm_context
-from dvc.scm.base import RevError
 from dvc.utils.fs import remove
 
 from .base import (
@@ -21,13 +20,14 @@ logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 @scm_context
 def apply(repo, rev, force=True, **kwargs):
     from dvc.repo.checkout import checkout as dvc_checkout
-    from dvc.scm.base import SCMError
+    from dvc.scm import resolve_rev
+    from dvc.scm.base import RevError, SCMError
     from dvc.scm.exceptions import MergeConflictError
 
     exps = repo.experiments
 
     try:
-        exp_rev = repo.scm.resolve_rev(rev)
+        exp_rev = resolve_rev(repo.scm, rev)
         exps.check_baseline(exp_rev)
     except (RevError, BaselineMismatchError) as exc:
         raise InvalidExpRevError(rev) from exc
diff --git a/dvc/repo/experiments/branch.py b/dvc/repo/experiments/branch.py
index 31b0fc4f6..299fddba7 100644
--- a/dvc/repo/experiments/branch.py
+++ b/dvc/repo/experiments/branch.py
@@ -14,8 +14,10 @@ logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 @locked
 @scm_context
 def branch(repo, exp_rev, branch_name, *args, **kwargs):
+    from dvc.scm import resolve_rev
+
     try:
-        rev = repo.scm.resolve_rev(exp_rev)
+        rev = resolve_rev(repo.scm, exp_rev)
     except RevError:
         raise InvalidArgumentError(exp_rev)
     ref_info = None
diff --git a/dvc/repo/experiments/diff.py b/dvc/repo/experiments/diff.py
index 38f206950..66c4584e0 100644
--- a/dvc/repo/experiments/diff.py
+++ b/dvc/repo/experiments/diff.py
@@ -9,13 +9,14 @@ logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 def diff(repo, *args, a_rev=None, b_rev=None, param_deps=False, **kwargs):
     from dvc.repo.experiments.show import _collect_experiment_commit
+    from dvc.scm import resolve_rev
 
     if repo.scm.no_commits:
         return {}
 
     if a_rev:
         a_rev = fix_exp_head(repo.scm, a_rev)
-        rev = repo.scm.resolve_rev(a_rev)
+        rev = resolve_rev(repo.scm, a_rev)
         old = _collect_experiment_commit(repo, rev, param_deps=param_deps)
     else:
         old = _collect_experiment_commit(
@@ -24,7 +25,7 @@ def diff(repo, *args, a_rev=None, b_rev=None, param_deps=False, **kwargs):
 
     if b_rev:
         b_rev = fix_exp_head(repo.scm, b_rev)
-        rev = repo.scm.resolve_rev(b_rev)
+        rev = resolve_rev(repo.scm, b_rev)
         new = _collect_experiment_commit(repo, rev, param_deps=param_deps)
     else:
         new = _collect_experiment_commit(
diff --git a/dvc/repo/experiments/ls.py b/dvc/repo/experiments/ls.py
index 812a39d6f..da6878e46 100644
--- a/dvc/repo/experiments/ls.py
+++ b/dvc/repo/experiments/ls.py
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ from collections import defaultdict
 
 from dvc.repo import locked
 from dvc.repo.scm_context import scm_context
-from dvc.scm.base import RevError
 
 from .utils import (
     exp_refs,
@@ -18,11 +17,13 @@ logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 @locked
 @scm_context
 def ls(repo, *args, rev=None, git_remote=None, all_=False, **kwargs):
+    from dvc.scm import resolve_rev
+    from dvc.scm.base import RevError
     from dvc.scm.git import Git
 
     if rev:
         try:
-            rev = repo.scm.resolve_rev(rev)
+            rev = resolve_rev(repo.scm, rev)
         except RevError:
             if not (git_remote and Git.is_sha(rev)):
                 # This could be a remote rev that has not been fetched yet
diff --git a/dvc/repo/experiments/remove.py b/dvc/repo/experiments/remove.py
index 4d66ca61e..7508a338f 100644
--- a/dvc/repo/experiments/remove.py
+++ b/dvc/repo/experiments/remove.py
@@ -52,8 +52,11 @@ def _get_exp_stash_index(repo, ref_or_rev: str) -> Optional[int]:
     for _, ref_info in stash_revs.items():
         if ref_info.name == ref_or_rev:
             return ref_info.index
+
+    from dvc.scm import resolve_rev
+
     try:
-        rev = repo.scm.resolve_rev(ref_or_rev)
+        rev = resolve_rev(repo.scm, ref_or_rev)
         if rev in stash_revs:
             return stash_revs.get(rev).index
     except RevError:
diff --git a/dvc/repo/experiments/show.py b/dvc/repo/experiments/show.py
index e37a199d3..216289926 100644
--- a/dvc/repo/experiments/show.py
+++ b/dvc/repo/experiments/show.py
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ from dvc.repo.experiments.executor.base import ExecutorInfo
 from dvc.repo.experiments.utils import fix_exp_head
 from dvc.repo.metrics.show import _gather_metrics
 from dvc.repo.params.show import _gather_params
-from dvc.scm.base import SCMError
 from dvc.utils import error_handler, onerror_collect
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -121,12 +120,16 @@ def show(
         raise InvalidArgumentError(f"Invalid number of commits '{num}'")
 
     if revs is None:
+        from dvc.scm import resolve_rev
+        from dvc.scm.base import RevError
+
         revs = []
         for n in range(num):
             try:
                 head = fix_exp_head(repo.scm, f"HEAD~{n}")
-                revs.append(repo.scm.resolve_rev(head))
-            except SCMError:
+                assert head
+                revs.append(resolve_rev(repo.scm, head))
+            except RevError:
                 break
 
     revs = OrderedDict(
diff --git a/dvc/scm/__init__.py b/dvc/scm/__init__.py
index 3dccfb298..b3942b9ae 100644
--- a/dvc/scm/__init__.py
+++ b/dvc/scm/__init__.py
@@ -34,10 +34,20 @@ def SCM(
 
 
 def clone(url: str, to_path: str, **kwargs):
-    from .exceptions import CloneError as InternalCloneError
     from .base import CloneError
+    from .exceptions import CloneError as InternalCloneError
 
     try:
         return Git.clone(url, to_path, **kwargs)
     except InternalCloneError as exc:
         raise CloneError(str(exc))
+
+
+def resolve_rev(scm: "Git", rev: str) -> str:
+    from .base import RevError
+    from .exceptions import RevError as InternalRevError
+
+    try:
+        return scm.resolve_rev(rev)
+    except InternalRevError as exc:
+        raise RevError(str(exc))
diff --git a/dvc/scm/exceptions.py b/dvc/scm/exceptions.py
index cb549e065..622c7f6c7 100644
--- a/dvc/scm/exceptions.py
+++ b/dvc/scm/exceptions.py
@@ -34,4 +34,8 @@ class CloneError(SCMError):
     def __init__(self, url: str, path: str) -> None:
         self.url = url
         self.path = path
-        super().__init__(f"Failed to clone repo '{url}' to '{path}'")
\ No newline at end of file
+        super().__init__(f"Failed to clone repo '{url}' to '{path}'")
+
+
+class RevError(SCMError):
+    pass
diff --git a/dvc/scm/git/__init__.py b/dvc/scm/git/__init__.py
index 756416529..d66a7d71a 100644
--- a/dvc/scm/git/__init__.py
+++ b/dvc/scm/git/__init__.py
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@ from typing import Dict, Iterable, Optional, Tuple, Type
 from funcy import cached_property, first
 from pathspec.patterns import GitWildMatchPattern
 
-from dvc.scm.base import Base, RevError
-from dvc.scm.exceptions import FileNotInRepoError
+from dvc.scm.base import Base
+from dvc.scm.exceptions import FileNotInRepoError, RevError
 from dvc.utils import relpath
 from dvc.utils.fs import path_isin
 
diff --git a/dvc/scm/git/backend/gitpython.py b/dvc/scm/git/backend/gitpython.py
index 658896db8..4cc3ba60c 100644
--- a/dvc/scm/git/backend/gitpython.py
+++ b/dvc/scm/git/backend/gitpython.py
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@ from typing import (
 from funcy import ignore
 
 from dvc.progress import Tqdm
-from dvc.scm.base import RevError, SCMError
-from dvc.scm.exceptions import MergeConflictError, CloneError
+from dvc.scm.base import SCMError
+from dvc.scm.exceptions import CloneError, MergeConflictError, RevError
 from dvc.utils import fix_env, is_binary, relpath
 
 from ..objects import GitCommit, GitObject
diff --git a/dvc/scm/git/backend/pygit2.py b/dvc/scm/git/backend/pygit2.py
index bf0be8efd..284fe1c5c 100644
--- a/dvc/scm/git/backend/pygit2.py
+++ b/dvc/scm/git/backend/pygit2.py
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@ from typing import (
 
 from funcy import cached_property
 
-from dvc.scm.base import RevError, SCMError
-from dvc.scm.exceptions import MergeConflictError
+from dvc.scm.base import SCMError
+from dvc.scm.exceptions import MergeConflictError, RevError
 from dvc.utils import relpath
 
 from ..objects import GitCommit, GitObject
diff --git a/tests/unit/scm/test_git.py b/tests/unit/scm/test_git.py
index e98c1849c..3cbae66d0 100644
--- a/tests/unit/scm/test_git.py
+++ b/tests/unit/scm/test_git.py
@@ -422,7 +422,7 @@ def test_checkout_index_conflicts(tmp_dir, scm, git, strategy, expected):
 
 
 def test_resolve_rev(tmp_dir, scm, make_tmp_dir, git):
-    from dvc.scm.base import RevError
+    from dvc.scm.exceptions import RevError
 
     if git.test_backend == "dulwich":
         pytest.skip()