diff --git a/internal/gitaly/service/operations/apply_patch.go b/internal/gitaly/service/operations/apply_patch.go
index 34cefcd2a65228c8360de860a84068fc6de1b254..7c96008d4629e3bd6df512681b8abcf2785fe9fe 100644
--- a/internal/gitaly/service/operations/apply_patch.go
+++ b/internal/gitaly/service/operations/apply_patch.go
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ func (s *Server) userApplyPatch(ctx context.Context, header *gitalypb.UserApplyP
 			return fmt.Errorf("resolve target branch: %w", err)
 		}
 
-		defaultBranch, err := repo.GetDefaultBranch(ctx)
+		defaultBranch, err := repo.HeadReference(ctx)
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("default branch name: %w", err)
 		}
diff --git a/internal/gitaly/service/operations/apply_patch_test.go b/internal/gitaly/service/operations/apply_patch_test.go
index b8dffa014650e045c457057030328e36a8a7a784..bee4faa2894bea5a16f522566ba089c65d4b2f6f 100644
--- a/internal/gitaly/service/operations/apply_patch_test.go
+++ b/internal/gitaly/service/operations/apply_patch_test.go
@@ -144,30 +144,6 @@ To restore the original branch and stop patching, run "git am --abort".
 				}
 			},
 		},
-		{
-			desc: "creating a new branch from the first listed branch works",
-			baseTree: []gittest.TreeEntry{
-				{Path: "file", Mode: "100644", Content: "base-content"},
-			},
-			baseReference: "refs/heads/a",
-			extraBranches: []string{"refs/heads/b"},
-			targetBranch:  "new-branch",
-			patches: []patchDescription{
-				{
-					newTree: []gittest.TreeEntry{
-						{Path: "file", Mode: "100644", Content: "patch 1"},
-					},
-				},
-			},
-			expected: func(t *testing.T, repoPath string) expected {
-				return expected{
-					branchCreation: true,
-					tree: []gittest.TreeEntry{
-						{Mode: "100644", Path: "file", Content: "patch 1"},
-					},
-				}
-			},
-		},
 		{
 			desc: "multiple patches apply cleanly",
 			baseTree: []gittest.TreeEntry{