diff --git a/sickbeard/versionChecker.py b/sickbeard/versionChecker.py
index efc3ce5e7a8043b0ef09a97bf92eef8e0fb6f86e..342248a6f06d4dc0dcadb946cfbdc0fae95d66fc 100644
--- a/sickbeard/versionChecker.py
+++ b/sickbeard/versionChecker.py
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ class GitUpdateManager(UpdateManager):
 
         branch_info = self._run_git('symbolic-ref -q HEAD')
 
-        if not branch_info:
+        if not branch_info or not branch_info[0]:
             return 'master'
 
         branch = branch_info[0].strip().replace('refs/heads/', '', 1)