diff --git a/.github/workflows/linux_unit_tests.yaml b/.github/workflows/linux_unit_tests.yaml
index 454b859151a00a871284c30fab22c5ce7a697c2e..f1def14b6ffe94c5cc17b6c00478a69dbb4efa6e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/linux_unit_tests.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/linux_unit_tests.yaml
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v2
+      with:
+        fetch-depth: 0
     - uses: actions/setup-python@v2
       with:
         python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
@@ -35,9 +37,7 @@ jobs:
       run: |
           # Need this for the git tests to succeed.
           git --version
-          git config --global user.email "spack@example.com"
-          git config --global user.name "Test User"
-          git fetch -u origin develop:develop
+          . .github/workflows/setup_git.sh
     - name: Install kcov for bash script coverage
       env:
           KCOV_VERSION: 34
@@ -62,6 +62,8 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v2
+      with:
+        fetch-depth: 0
     - uses: actions/setup-python@v2
       with:
         python-version: 3.8
@@ -78,9 +80,7 @@ jobs:
       run: |
           # Need this for the git tests to succeed.
           git --version
-          git config --global user.email "spack@example.com"
-          git config --global user.name "Test User"
-          git fetch -u origin develop:develop
+          . .github/workflows/setup_git.sh
     - name: Install kcov for bash script coverage
       env:
           KCOV_VERSION: 38
diff --git a/.github/workflows/macos_unit_tests.yaml b/.github/workflows/macos_unit_tests.yaml
index 9a7c12ae5df659ce7d463a89530735cfd42ad233..f4b55bab864fde6c20b6e721ebf10efa4ce2f9e8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/macos_unit_tests.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/macos_unit_tests.yaml
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: macos-latest
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v2
+      with:
+        fetch-depth: 0
     - uses: actions/setup-python@v2
       with:
         python-version: 3.7
@@ -30,7 +32,7 @@ jobs:
     - name: Run unit tests
       run: |
         git --version
-        git fetch -u origin develop:develop
+        . .github/workflows/setup_git.sh
         . share/spack/setup-env.sh
         coverage run $(which spack) test
         coverage combine
diff --git a/.github/workflows/setup_git.sh b/.github/workflows/setup_git.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..bd79daf268a53bd5b582d749f4217aefb81cea15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/setup_git.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env sh
+git config --global user.email "spack@example.com"
+git config --global user.name "Test User"
+# With fetch-depth: 0 we have a remote develop
+# but not a local branch. Don't do this on develop
+if [ "$(git branch --show-current)" != "develop" ]
+then
+  git branch develop origin/develop
+fi
diff --git a/.github/workflows/style_and_docs.yaml b/.github/workflows/style_and_docs.yaml
index 9fee85b16313569979879624ef42a43786631998..2277d5598f7eb2bfd16a6197bd2d0fc942d52464 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/style_and_docs.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/style_and_docs.yaml
@@ -41,9 +41,7 @@ jobs:
       run: |
         # Need this for the git tests to succeed.
         git --version
-        git config --global user.email "spack@example.com"
-        git config --global user.name "Test User"
-        git fetch -u origin develop:develop
+        . .github/workflows/setup_git.sh
     - name: Run flake8 tests
       run: |
           share/spack/qa/run-flake8-tests