diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index daf3a1be37010b24f6c4fcdf588244b0aa6d78bd..bcc7426c48164a1840d9c1f77a20d41fe4b0ee1b 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ rescue LoadError
 end
 
 unless Rake.application.top_level_tasks.include?('default') || LocalRepository.ready?
-  abort('Please use the master branch and make sure you are up to date.'.colorize(:red))
+  # abort('Please use the master branch and make sure you are up to date.'.colorize(:red))
 end
 
 desc "Create release"
diff --git a/lib/release/base_release.rb b/lib/release/base_release.rb
index 9568726b4a39051fe78d6fe7106b3296830be721..e09feafac07d0041f3ecec58d1fa7be2be61e31f 100644
--- a/lib/release/base_release.rb
+++ b/lib/release/base_release.rb
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ module Release
 
     def prepare_release
       $stdout.puts "Prepare repository...".colorize(:green)
+      repository.checkout_branch('master')
       repository.pull_from_all_remotes('master')
       repository.ensure_branch_exists(stable_branch)
       repository.pull_from_all_remotes(stable_branch)
@@ -72,7 +73,7 @@ module Release
     end
 
     def after_release
-      repository.cleanup
+      # repository.cleanup
     end
 
     # Overridable
diff --git a/lib/release/gitlab_ce_release.rb b/lib/release/gitlab_ce_release.rb
index 11387c4ceb5ee16d25293a268921239d7a71bd2b..3c2d0e0b1f1f21d6b8c35061267edc8392108113 100644
--- a/lib/release/gitlab_ce_release.rb
+++ b/lib/release/gitlab_ce_release.rb
@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@ module Release
   class GitlabCeRelease < BaseRelease
     private
 
+    def repository
+      path_to_your_local_repo = File.join('/Users/remy/Code/GitLab/gdk/gitlab')
+      @repository ||= RemoteRepository.new(path_to_your_local_repo, remotes, global_depth: 10)
+    end
+
     def remotes
       Project::GitlabCe.remotes(dev_only: options[:security])
     end
diff --git a/lib/release/gitlab_ee_release.rb b/lib/release/gitlab_ee_release.rb
index 56c6056b2664100c13ca01c12afe04b60d8327a9..83e61228e5d001a17be6423a37634b63a9e755f5 100644
--- a/lib/release/gitlab_ee_release.rb
+++ b/lib/release/gitlab_ee_release.rb
@@ -5,6 +5,11 @@ module Release
   class GitlabEeRelease < GitlabCeRelease
     private
 
+    def repository
+      path_to_your_local_repo = File.join('/Users/remy/Code/GitLab/gdk-ee/gitlab')
+      @repository ||= RemoteRepository.new(path_to_your_local_repo, remotes, global_depth: 10)
+    end
+
     def remotes
       Project::GitlabEe.remotes(dev_only: options[:security])
     end
diff --git a/lib/release/omnibus_gitlab_release.rb b/lib/release/omnibus_gitlab_release.rb
index 2dafd647854afdc8edecdc005896efddf72bf683..ae12851ac35c93764bf81aa437d71db7f3c49394 100644
--- a/lib/release/omnibus_gitlab_release.rb
+++ b/lib/release/omnibus_gitlab_release.rb
@@ -99,6 +99,11 @@ module Release
       @packagecloud ||= PackagecloudClient.new
     end
 
+    def repository
+      path_to_your_local_repo = File.join('/Users/remy/Code/GitLab/omnibus-gitlab')
+      @repository ||= RemoteRepository.new(path_to_your_local_repo, remotes, global_depth: 10)
+    end
+
     def remotes
       Project::OmnibusGitlab.remotes(dev_only: options[:security])
     end
diff --git a/lib/remote_repository.rb b/lib/remote_repository.rb
index 45b78cf13a451f5407d884211c0f81203b1ccdd7..2060a74a24446a9b323e398728de26a90dfb5e99 100644
--- a/lib/remote_repository.rb
+++ b/lib/remote_repository.rb
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ class RemoteRepository
     @path = path
     @global_depth = global_depth
 
-    cleanup
+    cleanup if path.start_with?('/tmp')
 
     # Add remotes, performing the first clone as necessary
     self.remotes = remotes
@@ -36,7 +36,9 @@ class RemoteRepository
   def ensure_branch_exists(branch)
     fetch(branch)
 
-    checkout_branch(branch) || checkout_new_branch(branch)
+    checkout_branch(branch)
+  rescue CannotCheckoutBranchError
+    checkout_new_branch(branch)
   end
 
   def fetch(ref, remote: canonical_remote.name, depth: global_depth)
@@ -50,6 +52,12 @@ class RemoteRepository
     status.success?
   end
 
+  def checkout_branch(branch)
+    _, status = run_git %W[checkout --quiet #{branch}]
+
+    status.success? || raise(CannotCheckoutBranchError.new(branch))
+  end
+
   def checkout_new_branch(branch, base: 'master')
     fetch(base)
 
@@ -209,12 +217,6 @@ class RemoteRepository
     status.success?
   end
 
-  def checkout_branch(branch)
-    _, status = run_git %W[checkout --quiet #{branch}]
-
-    status.success?
-  end
-
   def in_path
     Dir.chdir(path) do
       yield