diff --git a/src/context.rs b/src/context.rs
index 27feac0f..17a73c68 100644
--- a/src/context.rs
+++ b/src/context.rs
@@ -321,8 +321,19 @@ fn get_current_branch(repository: &Repository) -> Option<String> {
         Err(e) => {
             return if e.code() == UnbornBranch {
                 // HEAD should only be an unborn branch if the repository is fresh,
-                // in that case assume "master"
-                Some(String::from("master"))
+                // in that case read directly from `.git/HEAD`
+                let mut head_path = repository.path().to_path_buf();
+                head_path.push("HEAD");
+
+                // get first line, then last path segment
+                fs::read_to_string(&head_path)
+                    .ok()?
+                    .lines()
+                    .next()?
+                    .trim()
+                    .split('/')
+                    .last()
+                    .map(|r| r.to_owned())
             } else {
                 None
             };
diff --git a/tests/testsuite/git_branch.rs b/tests/testsuite/git_branch.rs
index 2f5bf901..63cecdfe 100644
--- a/tests/testsuite/git_branch.rs
+++ b/tests/testsuite/git_branch.rs
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ fn test_japanese_truncation() -> io::Result<()> {
 }
 
 #[test]
-fn test_works_with_unborn_master() -> io::Result<()> {
+fn test_works_with_unborn_default_branch() -> io::Result<()> {
     let repo_dir = tempfile::tempdir()?.into_path();
 
     Command::new("git")
@@ -108,6 +108,11 @@ fn test_works_with_unborn_master() -> io::Result<()> {
         .current_dir(&repo_dir)
         .output()?;
 
+    Command::new("git")
+        .args(&["symbolic-ref", "HEAD", "refs/heads/main"])
+        .current_dir(&repo_dir)
+        .output()?;
+
     let output = common::render_module("git_branch")
         .arg("--path")
         .arg(&repo_dir)
@@ -117,7 +122,7 @@ fn test_works_with_unborn_master() -> io::Result<()> {
 
     let expected = format!(
         "on {} ",
-        Color::Purple.bold().paint(format!("\u{e0a0} {}", "master")),
+        Color::Purple.bold().paint(format!("\u{e0a0} {}", "main")),
     );
     assert_eq!(expected, actual);
     remove_dir_all(repo_dir)