diff --git a/changelog.d/20241127_001212_kyle_branch_rename_master.md b/changelog.d/20241127_001212_kyle_branch_rename_master.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c804ceee03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/20241127_001212_kyle_branch_rename_master.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+- [Feature] Add the `TUTOR_BRANCH_IS_MAIN` variable to the template context, which is set to True for users running Tutor Main (by @kdmccormick).
+- [Bugfix] Use `TUTOR_BRANCH_IS_MAIN` rather than the edx-platform branch name in order to determine which patches to apply. This way, when developers are testing an edx-platform branch that is not master but which may be *based on* master, they will receive master patches rather than release patches, assuming they are running Tutor Main in the first place (by @kdmccormick).
diff --git a/tutor/env.py b/tutor/env.py
index fef5f2cbed..9750913d1f 100644
--- a/tutor/env.py
+++ b/tutor/env.py
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ def _prepare_environment() -> None:
             ("HOST_USER_ID", utils.get_user_id()),
             ("TUTOR_APP", __app__.replace("-", "_")),
             ("TUTOR_VERSION", __version__),
+            ("TUTOR_BRANCH_IS_MAIN", tutor.__about__.__app__.__version_suffix__ == "main"),
             ("is_docker_rootless", utils.is_docker_rootless),
         ],
     )
diff --git a/tutor/templates/build/openedx/Dockerfile b/tutor/templates/build/openedx/Dockerfile
index 5b155da6fa..b0e73fadbf 100644
--- a/tutor/templates/build/openedx/Dockerfile
+++ b/tutor/templates/build/openedx/Dockerfile
@@ -49,10 +49,10 @@ RUN git config --global user.email "tutor@overhang.io" \
 {%- if patch("openedx-dockerfile-git-patches-default") %}
 # Custom edx-platform patches
 {{ patch("openedx-dockerfile-git-patches-default") }}
-{%- elif EDX_PLATFORM_VERSION == "main" %}
+{%- elif TUTOR_BRANCH_IS_MAIN %}
 # Patches in Main node
 {%- else %}
-# Patches in non-Main mode
+# Patches in non-Main mode (i.e., Release mode)
 {%- endif %}
 
 {# Example: RUN curl -fsSL https://github.com/openedx/edx-platform/commit/<GITSHA1>.patch | git am #}