diff --git a/update_submodule.py b/update_submodule.py
index 091fec94dac36d9a53808b8ff531af943aa80272..76aa3c891087a4ef9e91474a9bfe17b73a0a0deb 100755
--- a/update_submodule.py
+++ b/update_submodule.py
@@ -107,6 +107,8 @@ def update_submodule(project, submodule_name, submodule_revision, branch=None):
                 return (integration_branch, existing_branch.commit, submodule_project)
             else:
                 print("Replacing outdated integration branch %s" % integration_branch)
+                repo.head.reference = branch
+                submodule = common.get_submodule(repo, submodule_name)
         else:
             print("Creating integration branch %s" % integration_branch)