diff --git a/internal/commands/release/create/create.go b/internal/commands/release/create/create.go
index 1a687ae03e9db40654ca3c6b0695615bec966573..0848513920159cdc807105936c2f76e7370c18cb 100644
--- a/internal/commands/release/create/create.go
+++ b/internal/commands/release/create/create.go
@@ -332,7 +332,16 @@ func createRun(opts *options) error {
 			opts.io.LogInfo(color.DotWarnIcon(), "Tag does not exist.")
 			opts.io.LogInfo(color.DotWarnIcon(), "No ref provided. Creating the tag from the latest state of the default branch.")
 			project, err := repo.Project(client)
-			if err == nil {
+			if err != nil {
+				// We are not able to retrieve the project from the API.
+				// This is most likely because we are running in CI with a CI Job Token
+				// which does not have access to the Projects API. Thus, let's check if we have access
+				// to the predefined CI/CD variable CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH and use it instead if available.
+				if defaultBranch, found := os.LookupEnv("CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH"); found {
+					opts.io.LogInfof("%s using default branch %q as ref from CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH\n", color.ProgressIcon(), defaultBranch)
+					opts.ref = defaultBranch
+				}
+			} else {
 				opts.io.LogInfof("%s using default branch %q as ref\n", color.ProgressIcon(), project.DefaultBranch)
 				opts.ref = project.DefaultBranch
 			}
diff --git a/internal/commands/release/create/create_test.go b/internal/commands/release/create/create_test.go
index 1fe2c9a48c99abc5a5c9e866597ab961a88dbdcf..b76661609522a5288cde0422291bdb1fe6a3ca21 100644
--- a/internal/commands/release/create/create_test.go
+++ b/internal/commands/release/create/create_test.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ package create
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
@@ -12,6 +13,10 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+	"go.uber.org/mock/gomock"
+
+	gitlab "gitlab.com/gitlab-org/api/client-go"
+	gitlabtesting "gitlab.com/gitlab-org/api/client-go/testing"
 
 	"gitlab.com/gitlab-org/cli/internal/glinstance"
 	"gitlab.com/gitlab-org/cli/internal/testing/cmdtest"
@@ -567,6 +572,87 @@ func TestReleaseCreate_MilestoneClosing(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestReleaseCreate_DefaultBranchDetectionForRef(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Setenv("CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH", "")
+
+	t.Run("use default branch from project API when available", func(t *testing.T) {
+		tc := gitlabtesting.NewTestClient(t)
+
+		exec := cmdtest.SetupCmdForTest(
+			t,
+			NewCmdCreate,
+			false,
+			cmdtest.WithGitLabClient(tc.Client),
+			cmdtest.WithBaseRepo("OWNER", "REPO", glinstance.DefaultHostname),
+		)
+
+		notFoundResponse := &gitlab.Response{Response: &http.Response{StatusCode: http.StatusNotFound}}
+		tc.MockTags.EXPECT().GetTag("OWNER/REPO", "0.0.1", gomock.Any()).Return(nil, notFoundResponse, errors.New("not found"))
+		tc.MockProjects.EXPECT().GetProject("OWNER/REPO", gomock.Any()).Return(&gitlab.Project{DefaultBranch: "some-default-branch"}, nil, nil)
+		tc.MockReleases.EXPECT().GetRelease("OWNER/REPO", "0.0.1", gomock.Any()).Return(nil, notFoundResponse, errors.New("not found"))
+		tc.MockReleases.EXPECT().CreateRelease("OWNER/REPO", &gitlab.CreateReleaseOptions{
+			Name:    gitlab.Ptr("0.0.1"),
+			TagName: gitlab.Ptr("0.0.1"),
+			Ref:     gitlab.Ptr("some-default-branch"),
+		}).Return(&gitlab.Release{}, nil, nil)
+
+		_, err := exec("0.0.1")
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("use default branch from environment if available and project API not available", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Setenv("CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH", "some-default-branch")
+
+		tc := gitlabtesting.NewTestClient(t)
+
+		exec := cmdtest.SetupCmdForTest(
+			t,
+			NewCmdCreate,
+			false,
+			cmdtest.WithGitLabClient(tc.Client),
+			cmdtest.WithBaseRepo("OWNER", "REPO", glinstance.DefaultHostname),
+		)
+
+		notFoundResponse := &gitlab.Response{Response: &http.Response{StatusCode: http.StatusNotFound}}
+		tc.MockTags.EXPECT().GetTag("OWNER/REPO", "0.0.1", gomock.Any()).Return(nil, notFoundResponse, errors.New("not found"))
+		tc.MockProjects.EXPECT().GetProject("OWNER/REPO", gomock.Any()).Return(nil, nil, errors.New("forbidden"))
+		tc.MockReleases.EXPECT().GetRelease("OWNER/REPO", "0.0.1", gomock.Any()).Return(nil, notFoundResponse, errors.New("not found"))
+		tc.MockReleases.EXPECT().CreateRelease("OWNER/REPO", &gitlab.CreateReleaseOptions{
+			Name:    gitlab.Ptr("0.0.1"),
+			TagName: gitlab.Ptr("0.0.1"),
+			Ref:     gitlab.Ptr("some-default-branch"),
+		}).Return(&gitlab.Release{}, nil, nil)
+
+		_, err := exec("0.0.1")
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("no explicit ref if default branch not in environment and project API not available", func(t *testing.T) {
+		tc := gitlabtesting.NewTestClient(t)
+
+		exec := cmdtest.SetupCmdForTest(
+			t,
+			NewCmdCreate,
+			false,
+			cmdtest.WithGitLabClient(tc.Client),
+			cmdtest.WithBaseRepo("OWNER", "REPO", glinstance.DefaultHostname),
+		)
+
+		notFoundResponse := &gitlab.Response{Response: &http.Response{StatusCode: http.StatusNotFound}}
+		tc.MockTags.EXPECT().GetTag("OWNER/REPO", "0.0.1", gomock.Any()).Return(nil, notFoundResponse, errors.New("not found"))
+		tc.MockProjects.EXPECT().GetProject("OWNER/REPO", gomock.Any()).Return(nil, nil, errors.New("forbidden"))
+		tc.MockReleases.EXPECT().GetRelease("OWNER/REPO", "0.0.1", gomock.Any()).Return(nil, notFoundResponse, errors.New("not found"))
+		tc.MockReleases.EXPECT().CreateRelease("OWNER/REPO", &gitlab.CreateReleaseOptions{
+			Name:    gitlab.Ptr("0.0.1"),
+			TagName: gitlab.Ptr("0.0.1"),
+			Ref:     nil,
+		}).Return(&gitlab.Release{}, nil, nil)
+
+		_, err := exec("0.0.1")
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+	})
+}
+
 func TestReleaseCreate_ExperimentalNotes(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		name                string