diff --git a/lib/awestruct/deploy/github_pages_deploy.rb b/lib/awestruct/deploy/github_pages_deploy.rb
index dec63c66..0a5e8a35 100644
--- a/lib/awestruct/deploy/github_pages_deploy.rb
+++ b/lib/awestruct/deploy/github_pages_deploy.rb
@@ -20,14 +20,11 @@ def git
       end
 
       def publish_site
-        current_branch = git.branch
-        checkout_pages_branch
-        add_and_commit_site @site_path
-        push_and_restore current_branch
-      end
-
-      def checkout_pages_branch
+        current_branch = git.current_branch
         git.branch( @branch ).checkout
+        add_and_commit_site @site_path
+        git.push( 'origin', @branch )
+        git.checkout( current_branch )
       end
 
       def add_and_commit_site( path )
@@ -39,12 +36,7 @@ def add_and_commit_site( path )
             $stderr.puts "Can't commit. #{e}."
           end
         end
-      end
-
-      def push_and_restore( original_branch )
         git.reset_hard
-        git.push( 'origin', @branch )
-        git.checkout( original_branch )
       end
 
       def message_for( key )
diff --git a/spec/github_pages_deploy_spec.rb b/spec/github_pages_deploy_spec.rb
index 5c55639c..955abfdf 100644
--- a/spec/github_pages_deploy_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/github_pages_deploy_spec.rb
@@ -10,6 +10,10 @@
     deploy_config = mock
     deploy_config.stub(:[]).with('branch').and_return('the-branch')
     @deployer = Awestruct::Deploy::GitHubPagesDeploy.new( site_config, deploy_config )
+
+    @git = mock
+    @git.stub_chain(:status, :changed, :empty?).and_return true
+    ::Git.stub(:open).with('.').and_return @git
   end
 
   it "should be auto-registered" do
@@ -17,18 +21,24 @@
   end
 
   it "should publish the site if there have been changes to the git repo" do
-    git = mock
-    git.stub_chain(:status, :changed, :empty?).and_return true
-    ::Git.should_receive(:open).with('.').and_return git
+    ::Git.should_receive(:open).with('.').and_return @git
     @deployer.should_receive(:publish_site)
     @deployer.run
   end
 
   it "should warn and noop if no changes have been committed" do
-    git = mock
-    git.stub_chain(:status, :changed, :empty?).and_return false
-    ::Git.should_receive(:open).with('.').and_return git
+    @git.stub_chain(:status, :changed, :empty?).and_return false
     @deployer.should_receive(:message_for).with(:existing_changes)
     @deployer.run
   end
+
+  it "should save and restore the current branch when publishing" do
+    @git.should_receive(:current_branch).and_return( 'bacon' )
+    @git.stub_chain(:branch, :checkout)
+    @git.should_receive(:push).with('origin', 'the-branch')
+    @git.should_receive(:checkout).with( 'bacon' )
+
+    @deployer.stub(:add_and_commit_site)
+    @deployer.run
+  end
 end