diff --git a/src/elm/Main.elm b/src/elm/Main.elm
index 11b070685..4410defd3 100644
--- a/src/elm/Main.elm
+++ b/src/elm/Main.elm
@@ -1401,7 +1401,11 @@ update msg model =
         RepoResponse response ->
             case response of
                 Ok ( _, repoResponse ) ->
-                    ( { model | repo = updateRepo (RemoteData.succeed repoResponse) rm }, Cmd.none )
+                    let
+                        dm =
+                            model.deploymentModel
+                    in
+                    ( { model | repo = updateRepo (RemoteData.succeed repoResponse) rm, deploymentModel = { dm | repo_settings = RemoteData.succeed repoResponse } }, Cmd.none )
 
                 Err error ->
                     ( { model | repo = updateRepo (toFailure error) rm }, addError error )
@@ -3452,7 +3456,7 @@ loadRepoSubPage model org repo toPage =
                         { dm
                             | org = org
                             , repo = repo
-                            , repo_settings = rm.repo
+                            , repo_settings = model.repo.repo
                             , form = form
                         }
                     , repo =
@@ -3605,6 +3609,9 @@ loadRepoSubPage model org repo toPage =
                     Pages.PromoteDeployment o r deploymentNumber ->
                         ( model, getDeployment model o r deploymentNumber )
 
+                    Pages.AddDeployment o r ->
+                        ( model, getRepo model o r )
+
                     -- page is not a repo subpage
                     _ ->
                         ( model, Cmd.none )
diff --git a/src/elm/Pages/Deployments/Update.elm b/src/elm/Pages/Deployments/Update.elm
index 8b8b14687..70917c484 100644
--- a/src/elm/Pages/Deployments/Update.elm
+++ b/src/elm/Pages/Deployments/Update.elm
@@ -199,18 +199,8 @@ applyDefaults form =
             form.description
         )
         form.payload
-        (if form.ref == "" then
-            "refs/heads/master"
-
-         else
-            form.ref
-        )
-        (if form.target == "" then
-            "production"
-
-         else
-            form.target
-        )
+        form.ref
+        form.target
         (if form.task == "" then
             "deploy:vela"
 
diff --git a/src/elm/Pages/Deployments/View.elm b/src/elm/Pages/Deployments/View.elm
index 821bb173e..6af0491aa 100644
--- a/src/elm/Pages/Deployments/View.elm
+++ b/src/elm/Pages/Deployments/View.elm
@@ -48,12 +48,22 @@ addForm deploymentModel =
     let
         deployment =
             deploymentModel.form
+
+        branch =
+            case deploymentModel.repo_settings of
+                RemoteData.Success repo ->
+                    repo.branch
+
+                _ ->
+                    ""
     in
     div [ class "deployment-form" ]
         [ h2 [ class "deployment-header" ] [ text "Add Deployment" ]
         , viewDeployEnabled deploymentModel.repo_settings
+
+        -- GitHub default is "production". If we support more SCMs, this line may need tweaking
         , viewValueInput "Target" deployment.target "provide the name for the target deployment environment (default: \"production\")"
-        , viewValueInput "Ref" deployment.ref "provide the reference to deploy - this can be a branch, commit (SHA) or tag (default: \"refs/heads/master\")"
+        , viewValueInput "Ref" deployment.ref <| "provide the reference to deploy - this can be a branch, commit (SHA) or tag (default: " ++ branch ++ ")"
         , viewValueInput "Description" deployment.description "provide the description for the deployment (default: \"Deployment request from Vela\")"
         , viewValueInput "Task" deployment.task "Provide the task for the deployment (default: \"deploy:vela\")"
         , viewParameterInput deployment