diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e081cb0a..30cbf408 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ When there are machines which have access to both the public internet and the GH
 
 - `cache-dir` _(required)_
    The directory in which to cache repositories as they are synced. This speeds up re-syncing.
+- `default-branch-only` _(optional)_
+   Optionally if you wish to only synchronize the single default branch rather than the default behaviour of syncing all branches.
 - `destination-url` _(required)_
    The URL of the GHES instance to sync repositories onto.
 - `destination-token` _(required)_
@@ -65,6 +67,8 @@ When no machine has access to both the public internet and the GHES instance:
 
 - `cache-dir` _(required)_
    The directory to cache the pulled repositories into.
+- `default-branch-only` _(optional)_
+   Optionally if you wish to only synchronize the single default branch rather than the default behaviour of syncing all branches.
 - `repo-name` _(optional)_
    A single repository to be synced. In the format of `owner/repo`. Optionally if you wish the repository to be named different on your GHES instance you can provide an alias in the format: `upstream_owner/upstream_repo:destination_owner/destination_repo`
 - `repo-name-list` _(optional)_
diff --git a/src/pull.go b/src/pull.go
index 84ae3812..d36cb3d8 100644
--- a/src/pull.go
+++ b/src/pull.go
@@ -9,11 +9,13 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/go-git/go-git/v5"
 	"github.com/go-git/go-git/v5/config"
+	"github.com/go-git/go-git/v5/plumbing"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
 
 type PullOnlyFlags struct {
-	SourceURL string
+	DefaultBranchOnly bool
+	SourceURL         string
 }
 
 type PullFlags struct {
@@ -27,6 +29,7 @@ func (f *PullFlags) Init(cmd *cobra.Command) {
 }
 
 func (f *PullOnlyFlags) Init(cmd *cobra.Command) {
+	cmd.Flags().BoolVar(&f.DefaultBranchOnly, "default-branch-only", false, "Only pull the default branch")
 	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&f.SourceURL, "source-url", "https://github.com", "The domain to pull from")
 }
 
@@ -45,24 +48,25 @@ func Pull(ctx context.Context, flags *PullFlags) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	return PullManyWithGitImpl(ctx, flags.SourceURL, flags.CacheDir, repoNames, gitImplementation{})
+	return PullManyWithGitImpl(ctx, flags.SourceURL, flags.CacheDir, flags.DefaultBranchOnly, repoNames, gitImplementation{})
 }
 
-func PullManyWithGitImpl(ctx context.Context, sourceURL, cacheDir string, repoNames []string, gitimpl GitImplementation) error {
+func PullManyWithGitImpl(ctx context.Context, sourceURL, cacheDir string, defaultBranchOnly bool, repoNames []string, gitimpl GitImplementation) error {
 	for _, repoName := range repoNames {
-		if err := PullWithGitImpl(ctx, sourceURL, cacheDir, repoName, gitimpl); err != nil {
+		if err := PullWithGitImpl(ctx, sourceURL, cacheDir, defaultBranchOnly, repoName, gitimpl); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 	}
 	return nil
 }
 
-func PullWithGitImpl(ctx context.Context, sourceURL, cacheDir string, repoName string, gitimpl GitImplementation) error {
+func PullWithGitImpl(ctx context.Context, sourceURL, cacheDir string, defaultBranchOnly bool, repoName string, gitimpl GitImplementation) error {
 	originRepoName, destRepoName, err := extractSourceDest(repoName)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	_ = os.MkdirAll(cacheDir, 0755)
 	_, err = os.Stat(cacheDir)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -73,8 +77,9 @@ func PullWithGitImpl(ctx context.Context, sourceURL, cacheDir string, repoName s
 	if !gitimpl.RepositoryExists(dst) {
 		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stdout, "pulling %s to %s ...\n", originRepoName, dst)
 		_, err := gitimpl.CloneRepository(dst, &git.CloneOptions{
-			SingleBranch: false,
-			URL:          fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", sourceURL, originRepoName),
+			ReferenceName: plumbing.HEAD,
+			SingleBranch:  defaultBranchOnly,
+			URL:           fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", sourceURL, originRepoName),
 		})
 		if err != nil {
 			if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "authentication required") {
@@ -89,10 +94,15 @@ func PullWithGitImpl(ctx context.Context, sourceURL, cacheDir string, repoName s
 		return err
 	}
 
+	refspec := config.RefSpec("+refs/heads/*:refs/heads/*")
+	if defaultBranchOnly {
+		refspec = "+refs/tags/*:refs/tags/*"
+	}
+
 	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stdout, "fetching * refs for %s ...\n", originRepoName)
 	err = repo.FetchContext(ctx, &git.FetchOptions{
 		RefSpecs: []config.RefSpec{
-			config.RefSpec("+refs/heads/*:refs/heads/*"),
+			refspec,
 		},
 		Tags: git.AllTags,
 	})