diff --git a/tests/pre-deploy.sh b/tests/pre-deploy.sh
index e6cee52..d996515 100755
--- a/tests/pre-deploy.sh
+++ b/tests/pre-deploy.sh
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ cp -f tests/lxd-bridge /etc/default/lxd-bridge
 cp -f tests/algo.conf /etc/default/algo.conf
 
 export REPOSITORY=${REPOSITORY:-${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}}
-export BRANCH=${BRANCH:-${GITHUB_REF#refs/heads/}}
+export _BRANCH=${BRANCH#refs/heads/}
+export BRANCH=${_BRANCH:-${GITHUB_REF#refs/heads/}}
 
 if [[ "$DEPLOY" == "cloud-init" ]]; then
   bash tests/cloud-init.sh | lxc profile set default user.user-data -