diff --git a/lib/git_worktree.rb b/lib/git_worktree.rb
index 5d772c55328..71bdeacec6d 100644
--- a/lib/git_worktree.rb
+++ b/lib/git_worktree.rb
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ class GitWorktree
   ENTRY_KEYS = [:path, :dev, :ino, :mode, :gid, :uid, :ctime, :mtime]
   DEFAULT_FILE_MODE = 0100644
   LOCK_REFERENCE = 'refs/locks'
-  MASTER_REF = 'refs/heads/master'
 
   def initialize(options = {})
     raise ArgumentError, "Must specify path" unless options.key?(:path)
@@ -74,7 +73,7 @@ def add(path, data, default_entry_keys = {})
     current_index.add(entry)
   end
 
-  def remove(path )
+  def remove(path)
     current_index.remove(path)
   end
 
@@ -126,7 +125,7 @@ def save_changes(message, owner = :local)
   def file_attributes(fname)
     walker = Rugged::Walker.new(@repo)
     walker.sorting(Rugged::SORT_DATE)
-    walker.push(@repo.ref(MASTER_REF).target)
+    walker.push(@repo.ref(local_ref).target)
     commit = walker.find { |c| c.diff(:paths => [fname]).size > 0 }
     return {} unless commit
     {:updated_on => commit.time.gmtime, :updated_by => commit.author[:name]}
@@ -169,9 +168,21 @@ def mv_dir(old_dir, new_dir)
 
   private
 
+  def current_branch
+    @repo.head_unborn? ? 'master' : @repo.head.name.sub(/^refs\/heads\//, '')
+  end
+
+  def upstream_ref
+    "refs/remotes/#{@remote_name}/#{current_branch}"
+  end
+
+  def local_ref
+    "refs/heads/#{current_branch}"
+  end
+
   def fetch_and_merge
     fetch
-    commit = @repo.ref("refs/remotes/#{@remote_name}/master").target
+    commit = @repo.ref(upstream_ref).target
     merge(commit)
   end
 
@@ -187,21 +198,21 @@ def pull
   def merge_and_push(commit)
     rebase = false
     push_lock do
-      @saved_cid = @repo.ref(MASTER_REF).target.oid
+      @saved_cid = @repo.ref(local_ref).target.oid
       merge(commit, rebase)
       rebase = true
-      @repo.push(@remote_name, [MASTER_REF], :credentials => @cred)
+      @repo.push(@remote_name, [local_ref], :credentials => @cred)
     end
   end
 
   def merge(commit, rebase = false)
-    master_branch = @repo.ref(MASTER_REF)
-    merge_index = master_branch ? @repo.merge_commits(master_branch.target, commit) : nil
+    current_branch = @repo.ref(local_ref)
+    merge_index = current_branch ? @repo.merge_commits(current_branch.target, commit) : nil
     if merge_index && merge_index.conflicts?
-      result = differences_with_master(commit)
+      result = differences_with_current(commit)
       raise GitWorktreeException::GitConflicts, result
     end
-    commit = rebase(commit, merge_index, master_branch.try(:target)) if rebase
+    commit = rebase(commit, merge_index, current_branch.try(:target)) if rebase
     @repo.reset(commit, :soft)
   end
 
@@ -217,7 +228,7 @@ def rebase(commit, merge_index, parent)
 
   def commit(message)
     tree = @current_index.write_tree(@repo)
-    parents = @repo.empty? ? [] : [@repo.ref(MASTER_REF).target].compact
+    parents = @repo.empty? ? [] : [@repo.ref(local_ref).target].compact
     create_commit(message, tree, parents)
   end
 
@@ -268,7 +279,7 @@ def get_tree(path)
   end
 
   def lookup_commit_tree
-    return nil unless @repo.branches['master']
+    return nil if !@commit_sha && !@repo.branches['master']
     ct = @commit_sha ? @repo.lookup(@commit_sha) : @repo.branches['master'].target
     ct.tree if ct
   end
@@ -306,7 +317,7 @@ def create_commit(message, tree, parents)
   end
 
   def lock
-    @repo.references.create(LOCK_REFERENCE, MASTER_REF)
+    @repo.references.create(LOCK_REFERENCE, local_ref)
     yield
   rescue Rugged::ReferenceError
     sleep 0.1
@@ -316,7 +327,7 @@ def lock
   end
 
   def push_lock
-    @repo.references.create(LOCK_REFERENCE, MASTER_REF)
+    @repo.references.create(LOCK_REFERENCE, local_ref)
     begin
       yield
     rescue Rugged::ReferenceError => err
@@ -332,9 +343,9 @@ def push_lock
     end
   end
 
-  def differences_with_master(commit)
+  def differences_with_current(commit)
     differences = {}
-    diffs = @repo.diff(commit, @repo.ref(MASTER_REF).target)
+    diffs = @repo.diff(commit, @repo.ref(local_ref).target)
     diffs.deltas.each do |delta|
       result = []
       delta.diff.each_line do |line|
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/HEAD b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/HEAD
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1d57c9ea7fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/HEAD
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+ref: refs/heads/branch2
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/config b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/config
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4f7d452b3cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/config
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+[core]
+	repositoryformatversion = 0
+	filemode = true
+	bare = true
+	ignorecase = true
+	precomposeunicode = false
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/objects/43/0ff1dcee43d2e8a12c3ba36f5ff20e46136152 b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/objects/43/0ff1dcee43d2e8a12c3ba36f5ff20e46136152
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..20d209978f7
Binary files /dev/null and b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/objects/43/0ff1dcee43d2e8a12c3ba36f5ff20e46136152 differ
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/objects/44/f84e202a8eb9d8d35fc183ae8637db3b003aa8 b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/objects/44/f84e202a8eb9d8d35fc183ae8637db3b003aa8
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..134a5a3b1fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/objects/44/f84e202a8eb9d8d35fc183ae8637db3b003aa8
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+x
��A!E]s�^@L�@b�Wah�LI��_^��y��/��C�<��,�e��� ���+cL���7y�
���}@{�W�{��}�Y/��8��0��l�Z3�|S��3����t5�
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/objects/78/3878cb3ed5964c75767141176c80f7d528abb5 b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/objects/78/3878cb3ed5964c75767141176c80f7d528abb5
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c3a5445fde3
Binary files /dev/null and b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/objects/78/3878cb3ed5964c75767141176c80f7d528abb5 differ
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/objects/95/99fdeb034597d90d72d2f58396dee096885b79 b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/objects/95/99fdeb034597d90d72d2f58396dee096885b79
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d5d5dce7727
Binary files /dev/null and b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/objects/95/99fdeb034597d90d72d2f58396dee096885b79 differ
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/objects/ae/fde3a01f6e10d72fd4899ce14c8b2654d3eb45 b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/objects/ae/fde3a01f6e10d72fd4899ce14c8b2654d3eb45
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7d41955fe6e
Binary files /dev/null and b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/objects/ae/fde3a01f6e10d72fd4899ce14c8b2654d3eb45 differ
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/objects/e3/16f7d7548ea8f874c872ff3be04f4e9849833b b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/objects/e3/16f7d7548ea8f874c872ff3be04f4e9849833b
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c8e759a2a0e
Binary files /dev/null and b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/objects/e3/16f7d7548ea8f874c872ff3be04f4e9849833b differ
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/objects/e6/9de29bb2d1d6434b8b29ae775ad8c2e48c5391 b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/objects/e6/9de29bb2d1d6434b8b29ae775ad8c2e48c5391
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..71122389437
Binary files /dev/null and b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/objects/e6/9de29bb2d1d6434b8b29ae775ad8c2e48c5391 differ
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/objects/fd/b4bc8c22f4b3ca8279c2e1eb92670893473d05 b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/objects/fd/b4bc8c22f4b3ca8279c2e1eb92670893473d05
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d71bc55f4cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/objects/fd/b4bc8c22f4b3ca8279c2e1eb92670893473d05
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+x
-�M
+1@a�=E.�4�i2 "ޤΨ�TJ6�ފ���{g@'��5+�8a���BS��G��޸�QbJd����ۺ���x������a}ƭ��\z-K��g@OL^&r��d�1ן����"+�
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/packed-refs b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/packed-refs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6eaf4028ff0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/packed-refs
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# pack-refs with: peeled fully-peeled 
+783878cb3ed5964c75767141176c80f7d528abb5 refs/heads/branch1
+e316f7d7548ea8f874c872ff3be04f4e9849833b refs/heads/branch2
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/refs/.gitkeep b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/refs/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e69de29bb2d
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/refs/tags/tag1 b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/refs/tags/tag1
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d22d8fbced6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/refs/tags/tag1
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+fdb4bc8c22f4b3ca8279c2e1eb92670893473d05
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/refs/tags/tag2 b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/refs/tags/tag2
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..fd1e2c81436
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git/refs/tags/tag2
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+e316f7d7548ea8f874c872ff3be04f4e9849833b
diff --git a/spec/lib/git_worktree_spec.rb b/spec/lib/git_worktree_spec.rb
index af0de70cb64..d90331afdcc 100644
--- a/spec/lib/git_worktree_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/git_worktree_spec.rb
@@ -275,6 +275,25 @@ def open_existing_repo
     end
   end
 
+  describe "git branches with no master" do
+    let(:git_repo_path) { Rails.root.join("spec/fixtures/git_repos/no_master.git") }
+    let(:test_repo) { GitWorktree.new(:path => git_repo_path.to_s) }
+
+    describe "#branches" do
+      it "all branches" do
+        expect(test_repo.branches).to match_array(%w(branch1 branch2))
+      end
+    end
+
+    describe "#file_list" do
+      it "get list of files in a branch" do
+        test_repo.branch = 'branch2'
+
+        expect(test_repo.file_list).to match_array(%w(file1 file2 file3 file4))
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
   describe 'git tags' do
     let(:git_repo_path) { Rails.root.join("spec/fixtures/git_repos/branch_and_tag.git") }
     let(:test_repo) { GitWorktree.new(:path => git_repo_path.to_s) }