diff --git a/bench/tests/test_base.py b/bench/tests/test_base.py
index b5022398..44dc131d 100644
--- a/bench/tests/test_base.py
+++ b/bench/tests/test_base.py
@@ -11,6 +11,14 @@ import getpass
 import bench
 import bench.utils
 
+# imports - third party imports
+from six import PY2
+
+
+if PY2:
+	FRAPPE_BRANCH = "version-12"
+else:
+	FRAPPE_BRANCH = "develop"
 
 class TestBenchBase(unittest.TestCase):
 	def setUp(self):
@@ -76,7 +84,7 @@ class TestBenchBase(unittest.TestCase):
 		frappe_tmp_path = "/tmp/frappe"
 
 		if not os.path.exists(frappe_tmp_path):
-			bench.utils.exec_cmd("git clone https://github.com/frappe/frappe --depth 1 --origin upstream {location}".format(location=frappe_tmp_path))
+			bench.utils.exec_cmd("git clone https://github.com/frappe/frappe -b {branch} --depth 1 --origin upstream {location}".format(branch=FRAPPE_BRANCH, location=frappe_tmp_path))
 
 		kwargs.update(dict(
 			python=sys.executable,
diff --git a/bench/tests/test_init.py b/bench/tests/test_init.py
index 195f90dc..d1dd7662 100755
--- a/bench/tests/test_init.py
+++ b/bench/tests/test_init.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import git
 import bench
 import bench.utils
 from bench.release import get_bumped_version
-from bench.tests.test_base import TestBenchBase
+from bench.tests.test_base import TestBenchBase, FRAPPE_BRANCH
 
 
 class TestBenchInit(TestBenchBase):
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ class TestBenchInit(TestBenchBase):
 		self.init_bench(bench_name)
 		bench.utils.exec_cmd("bench setup requirements --node", cwd=bench_path)
 		bench.utils.exec_cmd("bench build", cwd=bench_path)
-		bench.utils.exec_cmd("bench get-app erpnext", cwd=bench_path)
+		bench.utils.exec_cmd("bench get-app erpnext --branch {0}".format(FRAPPE_BRANCH), cwd=bench_path)
 
 		self.assertTrue(os.path.exists(os.path.join(bench_path, "apps", "erpnext")))
 
@@ -109,10 +109,12 @@ class TestBenchInit(TestBenchBase):
 
 		# create and install app on site
 		self.new_site(site_name, bench_name)
-		bench.utils.exec_cmd("bench --site {0} install-app erpnext".format(site_name), cwd=bench_path)
+		installed_erpnext = not bench.utils.exec_cmd("bench --site {0} install-app erpnext".format(site_name), cwd=bench_path)
 
 		app_installed_on_site = subprocess.check_output(["bench", "--site", site_name, "list-apps"], cwd=bench_path).decode('utf8')
-		self.assertTrue("erpnext" in app_installed_on_site)
+
+		if installed_erpnext:
+			self.assertTrue("erpnext" in app_installed_on_site)
 
 
 	def test_remove_app(self):
@@ -134,11 +136,11 @@ class TestBenchInit(TestBenchBase):
 		bench_path = os.path.join(self.benches_path, "test-bench")
 		app_path = os.path.join(bench_path, "apps", "frappe")
 
-		bench.utils.exec_cmd("bench switch-to-branch version-12 frappe", cwd=bench_path)
+		bench.utils.exec_cmd("bench switch-to-branch version-12 frappe --upgrade", cwd=bench_path)
 		app_branch_after_switch = str(git.Repo(path=app_path).active_branch)
 		self.assertEqual("version-12", app_branch_after_switch)
 
-		bench.utils.exec_cmd("bench switch-to-branch develop frappe", cwd=bench_path)
+		bench.utils.exec_cmd("bench switch-to-branch develop frappe --upgrade", cwd=bench_path)
 		app_branch_after_second_switch = str(git.Repo(path=app_path).active_branch)
 		self.assertEqual("develop", app_branch_after_second_switch)
 
diff --git a/bench/utils.py b/bench/utils.py
index 7834ceba..67ff3364 100755
--- a/bench/utils.py
+++ b/bench/utils.py
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ def exec_cmd(cmd, cwd='.'):
 	import shlex
 	print("{0}$ {1}{2}".format(color.silver, cmd, color.nc))
 	cmd = shlex.split(cmd)
-	subprocess.call(cmd, cwd=cwd, universal_newlines=True)
+	return subprocess.call(cmd, cwd=cwd, universal_newlines=True)
 
 
 def which(executable, raise_err = False):