diff --git a/eobuilder-ctl b/eobuilder-ctl
index 40ae7cb..12cfdf4 100755
--- a/eobuilder-ctl
+++ b/eobuilder-ctl
@@ -448,6 +448,7 @@ def setup_git_tree(project_reference, options):
         existing_tree = True
         branch_name = options.branch or get_git_branch_name(project_reference)
         try:
+            subprocess.check_call(['git', 'fetch'], cwd=git_project_path)
             subprocess.check_call(['git', 'checkout', '--quiet', branch_name],
                     cwd=git_project_path)
             subprocess.check_call(['git', 'reset', '--hard', 'origin/%s' % branch_name],