diff --git a/fdroidserver/deploy.py b/fdroidserver/deploy.py
index 621fa34a..7d2c80f9 100644
--- a/fdroidserver/deploy.py
+++ b/fdroidserver/deploy.py
@@ -505,9 +505,21 @@ def update_servergitmirrors(servergitmirrors, repo_section):
 
         enabled_remotes = []
         for d in servergitmirrors:
+            is_index_only = d.get('index_only', False)
+
+            # Use a separate branch for the index only mode as it needs a different set of files to commit
+            if is_index_only:
+                local_branch_name = 'index_only'
+            else:
+                local_branch_name = 'full'
+            if local_branch_name in repo.heads:
+                repo.git.switch(local_branch_name)
+            else:
+                repo.git.switch('--orphan', local_branch_name)
+
             # trailing slashes have a meaning in rsync which is not needed here, so
             # make sure both paths have exactly one trailing slash
-            if d.get('index_only', False):
+            if is_index_only:
                 files_to_sync = [str(working_dir_root / repo_section / index_file) for index_file in INDEX_FILES]
             else:
                 files_to_sync = [str(working_dir_root / repo_section).rstrip('/') + '/']
@@ -517,6 +529,7 @@ def update_servergitmirrors(servergitmirrors, repo_section):
                                       local_repo=repo,
                                       enabled_remotes=enabled_remotes,
                                       repo_section=repo_section,
+                                      is_index_only=is_index_only,
                                       fdroid_dir=git_fdroiddir,
                                       git_mirror_path=str(git_mirror_path),
                                       ssh_cmd=ssh_cmd,
@@ -532,6 +545,7 @@ def upload_to_servergitmirror(mirror_config: Dict[str, str],
                               local_repo: Repo,
                               enabled_remotes: List[str],
                               repo_section: str,
+                              is_index_only: bool,
                               fdroid_dir: str,
                               git_mirror_path: str,
                               ssh_cmd: str,
@@ -542,18 +556,8 @@ def upload_to_servergitmirror(mirror_config: Dict[str, str],
     logging.info("files:")
     logging.info(local_repo.git.ls_files())
 
-    index_only = mirror_config.get('index_only', False)
-
-    # Use a separate branch for the index only mode as it needs a different set of files to commit
-    if index_only:
-        local_branch_name = 'index_only'
-    else:
-        local_branch_name = 'full'
-    if local_branch_name in local_repo.heads:
-        local_repo.git.switch(local_branch_name)
-    else:
-        local_repo.git.switch('--orphan', local_branch_name)
     remote_branch_name = GIT_BRANCH
+    local_branch_name = local_repo.active_branch.name
 
     remote_url = mirror_config['url']
     name = REMOTE_HOSTNAME_REGEX.sub(r'\1', remote_url)
@@ -568,7 +572,7 @@ def upload_to_servergitmirror(mirror_config: Dict[str, str],
     logging.info('Mirroring to: ' + remote_url)
 
     logging.info("git status:", local_repo.git.status())
-    if index_only:
+    if is_index_only:
         # test
         logging.debug('Adding index files to git mirror')
         local_repo.index.add(_get_index_file_paths(os.path.join('fdroid', repo_section)))
@@ -581,7 +585,7 @@ def upload_to_servergitmirror(mirror_config: Dict[str, str],
     local_repo.index.commit("fdroidserver git-mirror")
 
     # Test
-    logging.info(f"In index-only: {index_only} mode")
+    logging.info(f"In index-only: {is_index_only} mode")
     logging.info(local_repo.git.status())
     logging.info(local_repo.head.log())
 
diff --git a/tests/deploy.TestCase b/tests/deploy.TestCase
index 36263c68..1994b53c 100755
--- a/tests/deploy.TestCase
+++ b/tests/deploy.TestCase
@@ -1000,6 +1000,7 @@ class DeployTest(unittest.TestCase):
             local_repo=local_git_repo,
             enabled_remotes=enabled_remotes,
             repo_section=repo_section,
+            is_index_only=mirror_config['index_only'],
             fdroid_dir=str(fdroid_dir),
             git_mirror_path=str(local_git_repo_path),
             ssh_cmd=ssh_cmd,