diff --git a/swh/model/identifiers.py b/swh/model/identifiers.py
--- a/swh/model/identifiers.py
+++ b/swh/model/identifiers.py
@@ -498,6 +498,7 @@
         'directory': b'tree',
         'revision': b'commit',
         'release': b'tag',
+        'snapshot': b'refs'
     }[target_type]
 
 
diff --git a/swh/model/tests/test_identifiers.py b/swh/model/tests/test_identifiers.py
--- a/swh/model/tests/test_identifiers.py
+++ b/swh/model/tests/test_identifiers.py
@@ -625,6 +625,11 @@
             'target_type': 'revision',
         }
 
+        self.release_snapshot_target = dict(self.release)
+        self.release_snapshot_target['target_type'] = 'snapshot'
+        self.release_snapshot_target['id'] = (
+            'c29c3ddcc6769a04e54dd69d63a6fdcbc566f850')
+
     def test_release_identifier(self):
         self.assertEqual(
             identifiers.release_identifier(self.release),
@@ -661,6 +666,12 @@
             identifiers.identifier_to_str(self.release_newline_in_author['id'])
         )
 
+    def test_release_identifier_snapshot_target(self):
+        self.assertEqual(
+            identifiers.release_identifier(self.release_snapshot_target),
+            identifiers.identifier_to_str(self.release_snapshot_target['id'])
+        )
+
 
 class SnapshotIdentifier(unittest.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):