diff --git a/pygit2/remotes.py b/pygit2/remotes.py
index ad34ee45..b3da7855 100644
--- a/pygit2/remotes.py
+++ b/pygit2/remotes.py
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Generator, Iterator, Literal, TypedDict
+import warnings
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Generator, Iterator, Literal
 
 # Import from pygit2
 from pygit2 import RemoteCallbacks
@@ -50,12 +51,46 @@
     from .repository import BaseRepository
 
 
-class LsRemotesDict(TypedDict):
+class RemoteHead:
+    """
+    Description of a reference advertised by a remote server,
+    given out on `Remote.ls_remotes` calls.
+    """
+
     local: bool
-    loid: None | Oid
+    """Available locally"""
+
+    oid: Oid
+
+    loid: Oid
+
     name: str | None
+
     symref_target: str | None
-    oid: Oid
+    """
+    If the server sent a symref mapping for this ref, this will
+    point to the target. 
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, c_struct: Any) -> None:
+        self.local = bool(c_struct.local)
+        self.oid = Oid(raw=bytes(ffi.buffer(c_struct.oid.id)[:]))
+        self.loid = Oid(raw=bytes(ffi.buffer(c_struct.loid.id)[:]))
+        self.name = maybe_string(c_struct.name)
+        self.symref_target = maybe_string(c_struct.symref_target)
+
+    def __getitem__(self, item: str) -> Any:
+        """
+        DEPRECATED: Backwards compatibility with legacy user code
+        that expects this object to be a dictionary with string keys.
+        """
+        warnings.warn(
+            'ls_remotes no longer returns a dict. '
+            'Update your code to read from fields instead '
+            '(e.g. result["name"] --> result.name)',
+            DeprecationWarning,
+        )
+        return getattr(self, item)
 
 
 class PushUpdate:
@@ -228,10 +263,10 @@ def ls_remotes(
         callbacks: RemoteCallbacks | None = None,
         proxy: str | None | bool = None,
         connect: bool = True,
-    ) -> list[LsRemotesDict]:
+    ) -> list[RemoteHead]:
         """
-        Return a list of dicts that maps to `git_remote_head` from a
-        `ls_remotes` call.
+        Get the list of references with which the server responds to a new
+        connection.
 
         Parameters:
 
@@ -247,32 +282,14 @@ def ls_remotes(
         if connect:
             self.connect(callbacks=callbacks, proxy=proxy)
 
-        refs = ffi.new('git_remote_head ***')
-        refs_len = ffi.new('size_t *')
+        refs_ptr = ffi.new('git_remote_head ***')
+        size_ptr = ffi.new('size_t *')
 
-        err = C.git_remote_ls(refs, refs_len, self._remote)
+        err = C.git_remote_ls(refs_ptr, size_ptr, self._remote)
         check_error(err)
 
-        results = []
-        for i in range(int(refs_len[0])):
-            ref = refs[0][i]
-            local = bool(ref.local)
-            if local:
-                loid = Oid(raw=bytes(ffi.buffer(ref.loid.id)[:]))
-            else:
-                loid = None
-
-            remote = LsRemotesDict(
-                {
-                    'local': local,
-                    'loid': loid,
-                    'name': maybe_string(ref.name),
-                    'symref_target': maybe_string(ref.symref_target),
-                    'oid': Oid(raw=bytes(ffi.buffer(ref.oid.id)[:])),
-                }
-            )
-
-            results.append(remote)
+        num_refs = int(size_ptr[0])
+        results = [RemoteHead(refs_ptr[0][i]) for i in range(num_refs)]
 
         return results
 
diff --git a/test/test_remote.py b/test/test_remote.py
index 5a7a5027..d13bb38b 100644
--- a/test/test_remote.py
+++ b/test/test_remote.py
@@ -201,7 +201,21 @@ def test_ls_remotes(testrepo: Repository) -> None:
     assert refs
 
     # Check that a known ref is returned.
-    assert next(iter(r for r in refs if r['name'] == 'refs/tags/v0.28.2'))
+    assert next(iter(r for r in refs if r.name == 'refs/tags/v0.28.2'))
+
+
+@utils.requires_network
+def test_ls_remotes_backwards_compatibility(testrepo: Repository) -> None:
+    assert 1 == len(testrepo.remotes)
+    remote = testrepo.remotes[0]
+    refs = remote.ls_remotes()
+    ref = refs[0]
+
+    for field in ('name', 'oid', 'loid', 'local', 'symref_target'):
+        new_value = getattr(ref, field)
+        with pytest.warns(DeprecationWarning, match='no longer returns a dict'):
+            old_value = ref[field]
+        assert new_value == old_value
 
 
 @utils.requires_network
@@ -217,7 +231,7 @@ def test_ls_remotes_without_implicit_connect(testrepo: Repository) -> None:
     assert refs
 
     # Check that a known ref is returned.
-    assert next(iter(r for r in refs if r['name'] == 'refs/tags/v0.28.2'))
+    assert next(iter(r for r in refs if r.name == 'refs/tags/v0.28.2'))
 
 
 def test_remote_collection(testrepo: Repository) -> None: