diff --git a/lib/issues.js b/lib/issues.js
index 889cac5..49410ae 100644
--- a/lib/issues.js
+++ b/lib/issues.js
@@ -39,7 +39,8 @@ module.exports.stringifiedIssueTemplate = async function stringifiedIssueTemplat
   const response = await client.repos.getContents({
     owner: options.owner,
     repo: options.repo,
-    path: `.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/${options.template}`
+    path: `.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/${options.template}`,
+    ref: options.ref || 'main'
   })
 
   // check that we're not trying to parse a file that doesn't exist. If we are, throw.
diff --git a/run.js b/run.js
index 204d655..d62cd21 100644
--- a/run.js
+++ b/run.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 'use strict'
+const util = require('node:util')
 const core = require('@actions/core')
 const github = require('@actions/github')
 const list = require('safe-parse-list')
@@ -69,9 +70,13 @@ const conversions = require('./lib/conversions')
     // default to the user-provided template
     if (issueTemplate) {
       try {
+        // console.log(util.inspect(github.context, { depth: null }))
+        console.log('DEFAULT:', github.context.repository)
+        // console.log(util.inspect(github.context.pull_request, { depth: null }))
         const userProvidedIssueTemplate = await issues.stringifiedIssueTemplate(client, {
           ...repo,
-          template: issueTemplate
+          template: issueTemplate,
+          // ref: github.context.event.repository.default_branch
         })
         template = conversions.convert(userProvidedIssueTemplate)
         template = ejs.compile(userProvidedIssueTemplate)