diff --git a/git.go b/git.go
index 3d0b1813..12b35171 100644
--- a/git.go
+++ b/git.go
@@ -110,6 +110,6 @@ func EnsureRepoExists(repoPath string) {
 // Sync performs a git pull, and then a git push. If any conflicts are encountered,
 // the user will need to resolve them.
 func Sync(repoPath string) {
-	MustRunGitCmd(repoPath, "pull", "--no-rebase", "--no-edit", "--commit", "origin", "master")
-	MustRunGitCmd(repoPath, "push", "origin", "master")
+	MustRunGitCmd(repoPath, "pull", "--no-rebase", "--no-edit", "--commit", "origin")
+	MustRunGitCmd(repoPath, "push", "origin")
 }
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index e1b22ff3..6f0c0313 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 module github.com/naggie/dstask
 
-go 1.13
+go 1.15
 
 require (
 	github.com/BurntSushi/toml v0.3.1
@@ -13,9 +13,9 @@ require (
 	github.com/shurcooL/graphql v0.0.0-20200928012149-18c5c3165e3a // indirect
 	github.com/sirupsen/logrus v1.7.0
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.6.1
+	golang.org/x/net v0.0.0-20201021035429-f5854403a974 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/oauth2 v0.0.0-20201109201403-9fd604954f58
 	golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20210119212857-b64e53b001e4
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v2 v2.3.0
 	gotest.tools v2.2.0+incompatible
-	honnef.co/go/tools v0.1.1 // indirect
 )
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index e3b79425..a338ec11 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -52,8 +52,6 @@ github.com/envoyproxy/protoc-gen-validate v0.1.0/go.mod h1:iSmxcyjqTsJpI2R4NaDN7
 github.com/go-gl/glfw v0.0.0-20190409004039-e6da0acd62b1/go.mod h1:vR7hzQXu2zJy9AVAgeJqvqgH9Q5CA+iKCZ2gyEVpxRU=
 github.com/go-gl/glfw/v3.3/glfw v0.0.0-20191125211704-12ad95a8df72/go.mod h1:tQ2UAYgL5IevRw8kRxooKSPJfGvJ9fJQFa0TUsXzTg8=
 github.com/go-gl/glfw/v3.3/glfw v0.0.0-20200222043503-6f7a984d4dc4/go.mod h1:tQ2UAYgL5IevRw8kRxooKSPJfGvJ9fJQFa0TUsXzTg8=
-github.com/gofrs/uuid v3.2.0+incompatible h1:y12jRkkFxsd7GpqdSZ+/KCs/fJbqpEXSGd4+jfEaewE=
-github.com/gofrs/uuid v3.2.0+incompatible/go.mod h1:b2aQJv3Z4Fp6yNu3cdSllBxTCLRxnplIgP/c0N/04lM=
 github.com/gofrs/uuid v3.3.0+incompatible h1:8K4tyRfvU1CYPgJsveYFQMhpFd/wXNM7iK6rR7UHz84=
 github.com/gofrs/uuid v3.3.0+incompatible/go.mod h1:b2aQJv3Z4Fp6yNu3cdSllBxTCLRxnplIgP/c0N/04lM=
 github.com/golang/glog v0.0.0-20160126235308-23def4e6c14b/go.mod h1:SBH7ygxi8pfUlaOkMMuAQtPIUF8ecWP5IEl/CR7VP2Q=
@@ -110,8 +108,10 @@ github.com/ianlancetaylor/demangle v0.0.0-20181102032728-5e5cf60278f6/go.mod h1:
 github.com/jstemmer/go-junit-report v0.0.0-20190106144839-af01ea7f8024/go.mod h1:6v2b51hI/fHJwM22ozAgKL4VKDeJcHhJFhtBdhmNjmU=
 github.com/jstemmer/go-junit-report v0.9.1/go.mod h1:Brl9GWCQeLvo8nXZwPNNblvFj/XSXhF0NWZEnDohbsk=
 github.com/kisielk/gotool v1.0.0/go.mod h1:XhKaO+MFFWcvkIS/tQcRk01m1F5IRFswLeQ+oQHNcck=
+github.com/kr/pretty v0.1.0 h1:L/CwN0zerZDmRFUapSPitk6f+Q3+0za1rQkzVuMiMFI=
 github.com/kr/pretty v0.1.0/go.mod h1:dAy3ld7l9f0ibDNOQOHHMYYIIbhfbHSm3C4ZsoJORNo=
 github.com/kr/pty v1.1.1/go.mod h1:pFQYn66WHrOpPYNljwOMqo10TkYh1fy3cYio2l3bCsQ=
+github.com/kr/text v0.1.0 h1:45sCR5RtlFHMR4UwH9sdQ5TC8v0qDQCHnXt+kaKSTVE=
 github.com/kr/text v0.1.0/go.mod h1:4Jbv+DJW3UT/LiOwJeYQe1efqtUx/iVham/4vfdArNI=
 github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.12 h1:wuysRhFDzyxgEmMf5xjvJ2M9dZoWAXNNr5LSBS7uHXY=
 github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.12/go.mod h1:cbi8OIDigv2wuxKPP5vlRcQ1OAZbq2CE4Kysco4FUpU=
@@ -137,7 +137,6 @@ github.com/stretchr/testify v1.6.1/go.mod h1:6Fq8oRcR53rry900zMqJjRRixrwX3KX962/
 github.com/yuin/goldmark v1.1.25/go.mod h1:3hX8gzYuyVAZsxl0MRgGTJEmQBFcNTphYh9decYSb74=
 github.com/yuin/goldmark v1.1.27/go.mod h1:3hX8gzYuyVAZsxl0MRgGTJEmQBFcNTphYh9decYSb74=
 github.com/yuin/goldmark v1.1.32/go.mod h1:3hX8gzYuyVAZsxl0MRgGTJEmQBFcNTphYh9decYSb74=
-github.com/yuin/goldmark v1.2.1/go.mod h1:3hX8gzYuyVAZsxl0MRgGTJEmQBFcNTphYh9decYSb74=
 go.opencensus.io v0.21.0/go.mod h1:mSImk1erAIZhrmZN+AvHh14ztQfjbGwt4TtuofqLduU=
 go.opencensus.io v0.22.0/go.mod h1:+kGneAE2xo2IficOXnaByMWTGM9T73dGwxeWcUqIpI8=
 go.opencensus.io v0.22.2/go.mod h1:yxeiOL68Rb0Xd1ddK5vPZ/oVn4vY4Ynel7k9FzqtOIw=
@@ -223,7 +222,6 @@ golang.org/x/sync v0.0.0-20190423024810-112230192c58/go.mod h1:RxMgew5VJxzue5/jJ
 golang.org/x/sync v0.0.0-20190911185100-cd5d95a43a6e/go.mod h1:RxMgew5VJxzue5/jJTE5uejpjVlOe/izrB70Jof72aM=
 golang.org/x/sync v0.0.0-20200317015054-43a5402ce75a/go.mod h1:RxMgew5VJxzue5/jJTE5uejpjVlOe/izrB70Jof72aM=
 golang.org/x/sync v0.0.0-20200625203802-6e8e738ad208/go.mod h1:RxMgew5VJxzue5/jJTE5uejpjVlOe/izrB70Jof72aM=
-golang.org/x/sync v0.0.0-20201020160332-67f06af15bc9/go.mod h1:RxMgew5VJxzue5/jJTE5uejpjVlOe/izrB70Jof72aM=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20180830151530-49385e6e1522/go.mod h1:STP8DvDyc/dI5b8T5hshtkjS+E42TnysNCUPdjciGhY=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20190215142949-d0b11bdaac8a/go.mod h1:STP8DvDyc/dI5b8T5hshtkjS+E42TnysNCUPdjciGhY=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20190312061237-fead79001313/go.mod h1:h1NjWce9XRLGQEsW7wpKNCjG9DtNlClVuFLEZdDNbEs=
@@ -252,8 +250,6 @@ golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20200515095857-1151b9dac4a9/go.mod h1:h1NjWce9XRLGQEsW7w
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20200523222454-059865788121/go.mod h1:h1NjWce9XRLGQEsW7wpKNCjG9DtNlClVuFLEZdDNbEs=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20200803210538-64077c9b5642/go.mod h1:h1NjWce9XRLGQEsW7wpKNCjG9DtNlClVuFLEZdDNbEs=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20200930185726-fdedc70b468f/go.mod h1:h1NjWce9XRLGQEsW7wpKNCjG9DtNlClVuFLEZdDNbEs=
-golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20201117222635-ba5294a509c7 h1:s330+6z/Ko3J0o6rvOcwXe5nzs7UT9tLKHoOXYn6uE0=
-golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20201117222635-ba5294a509c7/go.mod h1:h1NjWce9XRLGQEsW7wpKNCjG9DtNlClVuFLEZdDNbEs=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20210119212857-b64e53b001e4 h1:myAQVi0cGEoqQVR5POX+8RR2mrocKqNN1hmeMqhX27k=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20210119212857-b64e53b001e4/go.mod h1:h1NjWce9XRLGQEsW7wpKNCjG9DtNlClVuFLEZdDNbEs=
 golang.org/x/text v0.0.0-20170915032832-14c0d48ead0c/go.mod h1:NqM8EUOU14njkJ3fqMW+pc6Ldnwhi/IjpwHt7yyuwOQ=
@@ -297,18 +293,14 @@ golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20200227222343-706bc42d1f0d/go.mod h1:TB2adYChydJhpapK
 golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20200304193943-95d2e580d8eb/go.mod h1:o4KQGtdN14AW+yjsvvwRTJJuXz8XRtIHtEnmAXLyFUw=
 golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20200312045724-11d5b4c81c7d/go.mod h1:o4KQGtdN14AW+yjsvvwRTJJuXz8XRtIHtEnmAXLyFUw=
 golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20200331025713-a30bf2db82d4/go.mod h1:Sl4aGygMT6LrqrWclx+PTx3U+LnKx/seiNR+3G19Ar8=
-golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20200410194907-79a7a3126eef/go.mod h1:EkVYQZoAsY45+roYkvgYkIh4xh/qjgUK9TdY2XT94GE=
 golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20200501065659-ab2804fb9c9d/go.mod h1:EkVYQZoAsY45+roYkvgYkIh4xh/qjgUK9TdY2XT94GE=
 golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20200512131952-2bc93b1c0c88/go.mod h1:EkVYQZoAsY45+roYkvgYkIh4xh/qjgUK9TdY2XT94GE=
 golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20200515010526-7d3b6ebf133d/go.mod h1:EkVYQZoAsY45+roYkvgYkIh4xh/qjgUK9TdY2XT94GE=
-golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20200609164405-eb789aa7ce50/go.mod h1:EkVYQZoAsY45+roYkvgYkIh4xh/qjgUK9TdY2XT94GE=
 golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20200618134242-20370b0cb4b2/go.mod h1:EkVYQZoAsY45+roYkvgYkIh4xh/qjgUK9TdY2XT94GE=
 golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20200729194436-6467de6f59a7/go.mod h1:njjCfa9FT2d7l9Bc6FUM5FLjQPp3cFF28FI3qnDFljA=
 golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20200804011535-6c149bb5ef0d/go.mod h1:njjCfa9FT2d7l9Bc6FUM5FLjQPp3cFF28FI3qnDFljA=
 golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20200825202427-b303f430e36d h1:W07d4xkoAUSNOkOzdzXCdFGxT7o2rW4q8M34tB2i//k=
 golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20200825202427-b303f430e36d/go.mod h1:njjCfa9FT2d7l9Bc6FUM5FLjQPp3cFF28FI3qnDFljA=
-golang.org/x/tools v0.1.0 h1:po9/4sTYwZU9lPhi1tOrb4hCv3qrhiQ77LZfGa2OjwY=
-golang.org/x/tools v0.1.0/go.mod h1:xkSsbof2nBLbhDlRMhhhyNLN/zl3eTqcnHD5viDpcZ0=
 golang.org/x/xerrors v0.0.0-20190717185122-a985d3407aa7/go.mod h1:I/5z698sn9Ka8TeJc9MKroUUfqBBauWjQqLJ2OPfmY0=
 golang.org/x/xerrors v0.0.0-20191011141410-1b5146add898/go.mod h1:I/5z698sn9Ka8TeJc9MKroUUfqBBauWjQqLJ2OPfmY0=
 golang.org/x/xerrors v0.0.0-20191204190536-9bdfabe68543/go.mod h1:I/5z698sn9Ka8TeJc9MKroUUfqBBauWjQqLJ2OPfmY0=
@@ -390,6 +382,7 @@ google.golang.org/protobuf v1.24.0/go.mod h1:r/3tXBNzIEhYS9I1OUVjXDlt8tc493IdKGj
 google.golang.org/protobuf v1.25.0 h1:Ejskq+SyPohKW+1uil0JJMtmHCgJPJ/qWTxr8qp+R4c=
 google.golang.org/protobuf v1.25.0/go.mod h1:9JNX74DMeImyA3h4bdi1ymwjUzf21/xIlbajtzgsN7c=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
+gopkg.in/check.v1 v1.0.0-20180628173108-788fd7840127 h1:qIbj1fsPNlZgppZ+VLlY7N33q108Sa+fhmuc+sWQYwY=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v1.0.0-20180628173108-788fd7840127/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
 gopkg.in/errgo.v2 v2.1.0/go.mod h1:hNsd1EY+bozCKY1Ytp96fpM3vjJbqLJn88ws8XvfDNI=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v2 v2.2.2/go.mod h1:hI93XBmqTisBFMUTm0b8Fm+jr3Dg1NNxqwp+5A1VGuI=
@@ -406,12 +399,6 @@ honnef.co/go/tools v0.0.0-20190523083050-ea95bdfd59fc/go.mod h1:rf3lG4BRIbNafJWh
 honnef.co/go/tools v0.0.1-2019.2.3/go.mod h1:a3bituU0lyd329TUQxRnasdCoJDkEUEAqEt0JzvZhAg=
 honnef.co/go/tools v0.0.1-2020.1.3/go.mod h1:X/FiERA/W4tHapMX5mGpAtMSVEeEUOyHaw9vFzvIQ3k=
 honnef.co/go/tools v0.0.1-2020.1.4/go.mod h1:X/FiERA/W4tHapMX5mGpAtMSVEeEUOyHaw9vFzvIQ3k=
-honnef.co/go/tools v0.0.1-2020.1.6 h1:W18jzjh8mfPez+AwGLxmOImucz/IFjpNlrKVnaj2YVc=
-honnef.co/go/tools v0.0.1-2020.1.6/go.mod h1:pyyisuGw24ruLjrr1ddx39WE0y9OooInRzEYLhQB2YY=
-honnef.co/go/tools v0.1.0 h1:AWNL1W1i7f0wNZ8VwOKNJ0sliKvOF/adn0EHenfUh+c=
-honnef.co/go/tools v0.1.0/go.mod h1:XtegFAyX/PfluP4921rXU5IkjkqBCDnUq4W8VCIoKvM=
-honnef.co/go/tools v0.1.1 h1:EVDuO03OCZwpV2t/tLLxPmPiomagMoBOgfPt0FM+4IY=
-honnef.co/go/tools v0.1.1/go.mod h1:NgwopIslSNH47DimFoV78dnkksY2EFtX0ajyb3K/las=
 rsc.io/binaryregexp v0.2.0/go.mod h1:qTv7/COck+e2FymRvadv62gMdZztPaShugOCi3I+8D8=
 rsc.io/quote/v3 v3.1.0/go.mod h1:yEA65RcK8LyAZtP9Kv3t0HmxON59tX3rD+tICJqUlj0=
 rsc.io/sampler v1.3.0/go.mod h1:T1hPZKmBbMNahiBKFy5HrXp6adAjACjK9JXDnKaTXpA=
diff --git a/integration/main_test.go b/integration/main_test.go
index 9464ba0a..f8c15f9e 100644
--- a/integration/main_test.go
+++ b/integration/main_test.go
@@ -5,15 +5,21 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"log"
+	"math/rand"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/naggie/dstask"
 	"gotest.tools/assert"
 )
 
 func TestMain(m *testing.M) {
+	rand.Seed(time.Now().UnixNano())
+	gitConfigWarnIfUnset("user.name")
+	gitConfigWarnIfUnset("user.email")
+
 	if err := compile(); err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("compile error: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -87,6 +93,10 @@ func makeDstaskRepo(t *testing.T) (string, func()) {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal()
 	}
+	// Initialize with a random branch to ensure dstask does not rely on
+	// a particular default branch name.
+	randomBranch := makeRandomString("branch_", 6)
+	_ = randomBranch
 	cmd := exec.Command("git", "init")
 	cmd.Dir = dir
 	if err := cmd.Run(); err != nil {
@@ -106,3 +116,22 @@ func assertProgramResult(t *testing.T, output []byte, exiterr *exec.ExitError, s
 		t.Fatalf("%v", exiterr)
 	}
 }
+
+func makeRandomString(prefix string, length uint) string {
+	var letters = []rune("abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ")
+	b := make([]rune, length)
+	for i := range b {
+		b[i] = letters[rand.Intn(len(letters))]
+	}
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s%s", prefix, string(b))
+}
+
+func gitConfigWarnIfUnset(param string) {
+	cmd := exec.Command("git", "config", "--get", param)
+	err := cmd.Run()
+	if exitErr, ok := err.(*exec.ExitError); ok {
+		if exitErr.ExitCode() == 1 {
+			log.Printf("WARNING: git config %s is unset. This will likely cause test failures.", param)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/integrationtest.sh b/integrationtest.sh
index 1b67c9bf..c7fe2927 100755
--- a/integrationtest.sh
+++ b/integrationtest.sh
@@ -30,8 +30,10 @@ trap cleanup EXIT
 
 go build -o dstask -mod=vendor cmd/dstask/main.go
 
-# initialse git repo
+# initialise git repo
+BRANCH="branch_${RANDOM}"
 git -C $DSTASK_GIT_REPO init
+git -C $DSTASK_GIT_REPO checkout -b $BRANCH
 git -C $DSTASK_GIT_REPO config user.email "you@example.com"
 git -C $DSTASK_GIT_REPO config user.name "Test user"
 git -C $UPSTREAM_BARE_REPO init --bare
@@ -105,8 +107,8 @@ unset DSTASK_FAKE_PTY
 
 # set the bare repository as upstream origin to test sync against, and then push to it
 git -C $DSTASK_GIT_REPO remote add origin $UPSTREAM_BARE_REPO
-git -C $DSTASK_GIT_REPO push origin master
-git -C $DSTASK_GIT_REPO branch --set-upstream-to=origin/master master
+git -C $DSTASK_GIT_REPO push origin $BRANCH
+git -C $DSTASK_GIT_REPO branch --set-upstream-to=origin/$BRANCH $BRANCH
 ./dstask sync
 
 # cause independent changes (could be from separate downstream repositories,
diff --git a/vendor/modules.txt b/vendor/modules.txt
index cd066ea5..0ea8e313 100644
--- a/vendor/modules.txt
+++ b/vendor/modules.txt
@@ -1,42 +1,55 @@
 # github.com/BurntSushi/toml v0.3.1
+## explicit
 github.com/BurntSushi/toml
 # github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew/spew
 # github.com/gofrs/uuid v3.3.0+incompatible
+## explicit
 github.com/gofrs/uuid
 # github.com/golang/protobuf v1.4.2
 github.com/golang/protobuf/proto
 # github.com/google/go-cmp v0.5.2
+## explicit
 github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp
 github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp/internal/diff
 github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp/internal/flags
 github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp/internal/function
 github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp/internal/value
 # github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.12
+## explicit
 github.com/mattn/go-isatty
 # github.com/mvdan/xurls v1.1.0
+## explicit
 github.com/mvdan/xurls
 # github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1
+## explicit
 github.com/pkg/errors
 # github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0
 github.com/pmezard/go-difflib/difflib
 # github.com/shurcooL/githubv4 v0.0.0-20200928013246-d292edc3691b
+## explicit
 github.com/shurcooL/githubv4
 # github.com/shurcooL/graphql v0.0.0-20200928012149-18c5c3165e3a
+## explicit
 github.com/shurcooL/graphql
 github.com/shurcooL/graphql/ident
 github.com/shurcooL/graphql/internal/jsonutil
 # github.com/sirupsen/logrus v1.7.0
+## explicit
 github.com/sirupsen/logrus
 # github.com/stretchr/testify v1.6.1
+## explicit
 github.com/stretchr/testify/assert
 # golang.org/x/net v0.0.0-20201021035429-f5854403a974
+## explicit
 golang.org/x/net/context
 golang.org/x/net/context/ctxhttp
 # golang.org/x/oauth2 v0.0.0-20201109201403-9fd604954f58
+## explicit
 golang.org/x/oauth2
 golang.org/x/oauth2/internal
 # golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20210119212857-b64e53b001e4
+## explicit
 golang.org/x/sys/internal/unsafeheader
 golang.org/x/sys/unix
 golang.org/x/sys/windows
@@ -76,10 +89,12 @@ google.golang.org/protobuf/reflect/protoregistry
 google.golang.org/protobuf/runtime/protoiface
 google.golang.org/protobuf/runtime/protoimpl
 # gopkg.in/yaml.v2 v2.3.0
+## explicit
 gopkg.in/yaml.v2
 # gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.0-20200313102051-9f266ea9e77c
 gopkg.in/yaml.v3
 # gotest.tools v2.2.0+incompatible
+## explicit
 gotest.tools/assert
 gotest.tools/assert/cmp
 gotest.tools/internal/difflib