diff --git a/src/proxy/processors/pre-processor/parseAction.ts b/src/proxy/processors/pre-processor/parseAction.ts
index 0707d9240..619deea93 100644
--- a/src/proxy/processors/pre-processor/parseAction.ts
+++ b/src/proxy/processors/pre-processor/parseAction.ts
@@ -9,24 +9,21 @@ const exec = async (req: {
 }) => {
   const id = Date.now();
   const timestamp = id;
-  const pathBreakdown = processUrlPath(req.originalUrl);
   let type = 'default';
-  if (pathBreakdown) {
-    if (pathBreakdown.gitPath.endsWith('git-upload-pack') && req.method === 'GET') {
-      type = 'pull';
-    } else if (
-      pathBreakdown.gitPath.includes('git-receive-pack') &&
-      req.method === 'POST' &&
-      req.headers['content-type'] === 'application/x-git-receive-pack-request'
-    ) {
-      type = 'push';
-    }
-  } // else failed to parse proxy URL path - which is logged in the parsing util
+
+  //inspect content-type headers to classify requests as push or pull operations
+  // see git http protocol docs for more details: https://github.com/git/git/blob/master/Documentation/gitprotocol-http.adoc
+  if (req.headers['content-type'] === 'application/x-git-upload-pack-request') {
+    type = 'pull';
+  } else if (req.headers['content-type'] === 'application/x-git-receive-pack-request') {
+    type = 'push';
+  }
 
   // Proxy URLs take the form https://<git proxy domain>:<port>/<proxied domain>/<repoPath>
   // e.g. https://git-proxy-instance.com:8443/github.com/finos/git-proxy.git
   // We'll receive /github.com/finos/git-proxy.git as the req.url / req.originalUrl
   // Add protocol (assume SSL) to reconstruct full URL - noting path will start with a /
+  const pathBreakdown = processUrlPath(req.originalUrl);
   let url = 'https:/' + (pathBreakdown?.repoPath ?? 'NOT-FOUND');
 
   console.log(`Parse action calculated repo URL: ${url} for inbound URL path: ${req.originalUrl}`);
diff --git a/test/testParseAction.test.js b/test/testParseAction.test.js
index 02686fc1d..3592cc081 100644
--- a/test/testParseAction.test.js
+++ b/test/testParseAction.test.js
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ describe('Pre-processor: parseAction', async () => {
     const req = {
       originalUrl: '/github.com/finos/git-proxy.git/git-upload-pack',
       method: 'GET',
-      headers: {},
+      headers: { 'content-type': 'application/x-git-upload-pack-request' },
     };
 
     const action = await preprocessor.exec(req);
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ describe('Pre-processor: parseAction', async () => {
     const req = {
       originalUrl: '/finos/git-proxy.git/git-upload-pack',
       method: 'GET',
-      headers: {},
+      headers: { 'content-type': 'application/x-git-upload-pack-request' },
     };
 
     const action = await preprocessor.exec(req);