diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 09d1010..da7b4b4 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -10,6 +10,10 @@ Please ensure a `requirements.txt` is present for your site and installs
   - `GIT_DEPLOY_KEY`: provide the private key for a [deploy key][1]
     - *WARNING*, this should be considered deprecated. A future version of this action will use the `GITHUB_TOKEN` secret instead.
 
+## Environment variables
+
+  - `GH_PAGES_BRANCH` (optional): override the default `gh-pages` deployment branch
+
 ## History
 
 Extracted from https://github.com/desertpy/desertpy-pelican.
diff --git a/entrypoint.sh b/entrypoint.sh
index 479f1c6..0dfc1e3 100755
--- a/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/entrypoint.sh
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ echo '=================== Publish to GitHub Pages ==================='
 cd output
 # shellcheck disable=SC2012
 remote_repo="git@github.com:${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}.git"
-remote_branch="gh-pages"
+remote_branch=${GH_PAGES_BRANCH:=gh-pages}
 git init
 git remote add deploy "$remote_repo"
 git checkout $remote_branch || git checkout --orphan $remote_branch