diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-deb.yml b/.github/workflows/build-deb.yml
index a7583022d..89ee63e3a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-deb.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-deb.yml
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ on:
     branches:
       - main
       - github-ci
+      - link2xt/deb-checkout
 
   # Allows you to run this workflow manually from the Actions tab
   workflow_dispatch:
@@ -21,12 +22,16 @@ jobs:
           apt install -y git-buildpackage build-essential debhelper-compat default-libmysqlclient-dev krb5-multidev libapparmor-dev libbz2-dev libcap-dev libdb-dev libexpat-dev libexttextcat-dev libicu-dev libldap2-dev liblua5.4-dev liblz4-dev liblzma-dev libpam0g-dev libpq-dev libsasl2-dev libsodium-dev libsqlite3-dev libssl-dev libstemmer-dev libsystemd-dev libwrap0-dev libzstd-dev pkg-config zlib1g-dev git libunwind-dev rsync
 
       - name: clone repository
-        run: git clone https://github.com/chatmail/dovecot
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          path: dovecot
+          show-progress: false
+          fetch-depth: 0
 
       - name: build
         run: |
           cd dovecot
-          DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS=nocheck gbp buildpackage --git-no-pristine-tar -us -uc
+          DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS=nocheck gbp buildpackage --git-no-pristine-tar --git-ignore-branch -us -uc
 
       - name: upload .deb files
         run: |
@@ -46,7 +51,11 @@ jobs:
           apt install -y git-buildpackage build-essential debhelper-compat default-libmysqlclient-dev krb5-multidev libapparmor-dev libbz2-dev libcap-dev libdb-dev libexpat-dev libexttextcat-dev libicu-dev libldap2-dev liblua5.4-dev liblz4-dev liblzma-dev libpam0g-dev libpq-dev libsasl2-dev libsodium-dev libsqlite3-dev libssl-dev libstemmer-dev libsystemd-dev libwrap0-dev libzstd-dev pkg-config zlib1g-dev git libunwind-dev rsync
 
       - name: clone repository
-        run: git clone https://github.com/chatmail/dovecot
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          path: dovecot
+          show-progress: false
+          fetch-depth: 0
 
       - name: build
         run: |