diff --git a/.github/workflows/check_pr_branch.yml b/.github/workflows/check_pr_branch.yml
index 7eed5684df..2421422f57 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/check_pr_branch.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/check_pr_branch.yml
@@ -5,9 +5,14 @@ jobs:
   check-PR-branch:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-      - name: PRs should not target main
-        run: |
-          if [[ "${{ github.base_ref }}" == "main" ]]; then
-            echo "Pull requests must not be made against main. Please target development instead."
-            exit 1
-          fi
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        with:
+          fetch-depth 0
+
+      - name: Get PR target branch
+        id: get-target-branch
+        run: bash .github/workflows/get_pr_target_branch.sh
+
+      - name: No PRs should target the main branch; use development instead
+        if: ${{ steps.get-target-branch.outputs.target_branch == 'main' }}
+        run: exit 1
diff --git a/.github/workflows/get_pr_target_branch.sh b/.github/workflows/get_pr_target_branch.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b0a14ef502
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/get_pr_target_branch.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Get the PR number from the GitHub context
+PR_NUMBER=${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
+
+# Call the GitHub API to get the PR details
+PR_DETAILS=$(curl \
+                   -H "Authorization: token ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}" \
+                     -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.v3+json" \
+                       "https://api.github.com/repos/${{ github.repository }}/pulls/$PR_NUMBER")
+
+# Extract the base ref (target branch) from the PR details
+TARGET_BRANCH=$(echo "$PR_DETAILS" | jq -r '.base.ref')
+
+# Output the target branch
+echo "::set-output name=target_branch::$TARGET_BRANCH"