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..5aabea0e 100755
--- a/bench/tests/test_init.py
+++ b/bench/tests/test_init.py
@@ -134,11 +134,11 @@ 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)