diff --git a/gitlab-ci-git-buildpackage b/gitlab-ci-git-buildpackage
index 4124e9f..901fd6b 100755
--- a/gitlab-ci-git-buildpackage
+++ b/gitlab-ci-git-buildpackage
@@ -20,10 +20,9 @@ if [[ ! -f $lockfile ]] ; then
             build-essential dpkg-dev fakeroot git-buildpackage pristine-tar $BUILD_DEPENDS
     apt-get -qy autoremove --purge
     dpkg-checkbuilddeps
-    echo "ensure pristine-tar branch exists"
-    git branch -a
-    git remote -v
-    git branch --track pristine-tar origin/pristine-tar || true
+    echo "ensure pristine-tar branch exists and is current"
+    git fetch --all || true
+    git checkout -B pristine-tar origin/pristine-tar
     echo "make $CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME branch current for gbp"
     git checkout -B "$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME" "$CI_COMMIT_SHA"
     if [ -z "$CI_COMMIT_TAG" ]; then