diff --git a/hack/publish.py b/hack/publish.py
index adc303b..9401829 100644
--- a/hack/publish.py
+++ b/hack/publish.py
@@ -77,14 +77,14 @@ def is_initial() -> bool:
     """
     logger.info("fetching gh-pages from origin")
     subprocess.run(
-        ["git", "fetch", "origin", "gh-pages"],
+        ["git", "fetch", "origin", "refs/heads/gh-pages"],
         stdout=sys.stdout,
         stderr=sys.stderr,
     )
 
     logger.info("getting ref of gh-pages")
     rc = subprocess.run(
-        ["git", "show-ref", "--quiet", "refs/heads/gh-pages"],
+        ["git", "show-ref", "refs/heads/gh-pages"],
         stdout=sys.stdout,
         stderr=sys.stderr,
     )