diff --git a/.github/workflows/auto-update.yaml b/.github/workflows/auto-update.yaml
index 6cf9639..edce21a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/auto-update.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/auto-update.yaml
@@ -25,4 +25,6 @@ jobs:
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           GIT_AUTHOR_NAME: Auto-update CI workflow
-          GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL: noreply+opentelemetry@grafana.com
\ No newline at end of file
+          GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL: noreply+opentelemetry@grafana.com
+          GIT_COMMITTER_NAME: Auto-update CI workflow
+          GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL: noreply+opentelemetry@grafana.com
diff --git a/scripts/update-to-latest-otelcol.sh b/scripts/update-to-latest-otelcol.sh
index 87692bb..ea7ddb8 100755
--- a/scripts/update-to-latest-otelcol.sh
+++ b/scripts/update-to-latest-otelcol.sh
@@ -54,6 +54,9 @@ if [ $latest_core_version != $latest_contrib_version ]; then
     fi
 fi
 
+# perhaps there are changes, let's switch to a specific branch
+git checkout -b auto-update/core_${latest_core_version}_contrib_${latest_contrib_version} main
+
 # at this point, we are ready to start replacing the versions on the manifests
 manifests=$(find ${REPO_DIR} -name manifest.yaml)
 for manifest in $manifests; do