diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index 25f4dc03cf97b..bf8b6e45d3e3b 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -258,18 +258,12 @@ commands:
       - run:
           name: Determine target branch for this pipeline
           command: |
-            TARGET_BRANCH=""
-            if [ -n "${CIRCLE_PULL_REQUEST:-}" ]; then
-              TARGET_BRANCH=$(curl -s "https://api.github.com/repos/${CIRCLE_PROJECT_USERNAME}/${CIRCLE_PROJECT_REPONAME}/pulls/${CIRCLE_PULL_REQUEST##*/}" | jq -r .base.ref)
-            fi
-
-            # Fallbacks when not a PR or API did not return a branch
-            if [ -z "$TARGET_BRANCH" ] || [ "$TARGET_BRANCH" = "null" ]; then
-              TARGET_BRANCH="<< pipeline.git.branch >>"
-            fi
+            # Use the get-target-branch.sh script
+            source scripts/ops/get-target-branch.sh
 
-            echo "Resolved TARGET_BRANCH=$TARGET_BRANCH"
+            # Make TARGET_BRANCH available to subsequent steps
             echo "export TARGET_BRANCH=$TARGET_BRANCH" >> "$BASH_ENV"
+          working_directory: packages/contracts-bedrock
 
   setup-features:
     description: "Set up dev and system feature environment variables. Features are auto-classified based on system_features registry."
diff --git a/packages/contracts-bedrock/scripts/checks/check-semver-diff.sh b/packages/contracts-bedrock/scripts/checks/check-semver-diff.sh
index 8eb448cbc85e7..078fcaca3601c 100755
--- a/packages/contracts-bedrock/scripts/checks/check-semver-diff.sh
+++ b/packages/contracts-bedrock/scripts/checks/check-semver-diff.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@ SCRIPT_DIR=$(cd -- "$(dirname -- "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" &> /dev/null && pwd)
 # shellcheck source=/dev/null
 source "$SCRIPT_DIR/utils/semver-utils.sh"
 
+# Determine the target branch.
+# shellcheck source=/dev/null
+source "$SCRIPT_DIR/../ops/get-target-branch.sh"
+
 # Path to semver-lock.json.
 SEMVER_LOCK="snapshots/semver-lock.json"
 
@@ -31,7 +35,6 @@ temp_dir=$(mktemp -d)
 trap 'rm -rf "$temp_dir"' EXIT
 
 # Exit early if semver-lock.json has not changed.
-TARGET_BRANCH="${TARGET_BRANCH:-develop}"
 UPSTREAM_REF="origin/${TARGET_BRANCH}"
 if ! {
   git diff "$UPSTREAM_REF"...HEAD --name-only
diff --git a/packages/contracts-bedrock/scripts/ops/get-target-branch.sh b/packages/contracts-bedrock/scripts/ops/get-target-branch.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..a60d244bc9c29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/contracts-bedrock/scripts/ops/get-target-branch.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Determines the PR target branch and exports TARGET_BRANCH
+
+TARGET_BRANCH=""
+if [ -n "${CIRCLE_PULL_REQUEST:-}" ]; then
+  TARGET_BRANCH=$(curl -s "https://api.github.com/repos/${CIRCLE_PROJECT_USERNAME}/${CIRCLE_PROJECT_REPONAME}/pulls/${CIRCLE_PULL_REQUEST##*/}" | jq -r .base.ref)
+fi
+
+# Fallbacks when not a PR or API did not return a branch
+if [ -z "$TARGET_BRANCH" ] || [ "$TARGET_BRANCH" = "null" ]; then
+  TARGET_BRANCH="${CIRCLE_BRANCH:-develop}"
+fi
+
+echo "Resolved TARGET_BRANCH=$TARGET_BRANCH" >&2
+export TARGET_BRANCH
diff --git a/packages/contracts-bedrock/scripts/ops/use-latest-fallback.sh b/packages/contracts-bedrock/scripts/ops/use-latest-fallback.sh
index 45d1b9a105b5a..5c11846e55158 100755
--- a/packages/contracts-bedrock/scripts/ops/use-latest-fallback.sh
+++ b/packages/contracts-bedrock/scripts/ops/use-latest-fallback.sh
@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@ set -euo pipefail
 # - develop branch: Always build fresh (accuracy)
 # - force-use-fresh-artifacts label: Override fallback (emergency escape hatch)
 
+# Determine the target branch for this PR
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+# shellcheck source=/dev/null
+source "$SCRIPT_DIR/get-target-branch.sh"
+
 USE_FALLBACK=false
 
 # Check if we're on a PR (not develop branch)
@@ -43,6 +48,12 @@ if [ "${CIRCLE_BRANCH:-}" != "develop" ]; then
   fi
 fi
 
+echo "TARGET_BRANCH=$TARGET_BRANCH"
+# Ensure that PRs targetting anything other than develop do not use the fallback
+if [ "$TARGET_BRANCH" != "develop" ]; then
+  USE_FALLBACK=false
+fi
+
 # Pull artifacts with or without fallback
 if [ "$USE_FALLBACK" = "true" ]; then
   bash scripts/ops/pull-artifacts.sh --fallback-to-latest