diff --git a/devel-up b/devel-up
index 6a4683d42..a97f310f0 100755
--- a/devel-up
+++ b/devel-up
@@ -145,9 +145,22 @@ def params_from_git_refspec(refspec, param_prefix):
 
 def parse_git_refspec(refspec):
     if '@' not in refspec:
-        return (refspec, 'master')
+        return (refspec, get_default_branch(refspec))
     return tuple(refspec.split('@'))
 
 
+def get_default_branch(repo):
+    output = subprocess.check_output(['git', 'ls-remote', '--symref',
+                                      repo, 'HEAD'],
+                                     encoding='utf-8')
+    for line in output.splitlines():
+        if line.startswith('ref: '):
+            ref, symref = line[len('ref: '):].split()
+            if symref != "HEAD":
+                continue
+            assert ref.startswith("refs/heads/")
+            return ref[len("refs/heads/"):]
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     sys.exit(main())
diff --git a/manifests/pipeline.yaml b/manifests/pipeline.yaml
index 530102cb8..b888173fd 100644
--- a/manifests/pipeline.yaml
+++ b/manifests/pipeline.yaml
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ parameters:
     value: https://github.com/coreos/fedora-coreos-config
   - description: Git branch/tag reference for FCOS config
     name: PIPELINE_FCOS_CONFIG_REF
-    value: master
+    value: testing-devel
   - description: Size of the PVC to create
     name: PVC_SIZE
     value: 100Gi