diff --git a/bin/git-pull-and-if-origin-changed-run-tests b/bin/git-pull-and-if-origin-changed-run-tests
index ae5d7fd1..7e98b8ac 100755
--- a/bin/git-pull-and-if-origin-changed-run-tests
+++ b/bin/git-pull-and-if-origin-changed-run-tests
@@ -10,8 +10,14 @@ while true; do
 
     if [ -n "$branch_with_new_commits" ]; then
           echo "checking out branch: $branch_with_new_commits"
-          echo "git checkout -b \"$branch_with_new_commits\" \"origin/$branch_with_new_commits\""
-          git checkout -b "$branch_with_new_commits" "origin/$branch_with_new_commits"
+          if git show-ref --quiet --heads "$branch_with_new_commits"; then
+              echo "Branch $branch_with_new_commits already exists. Checking it out and pulling latest changes."
+              git checkout "$branch_with_new_commits"
+              git pull origin "$branch_with_new_commits"
+          else
+              echo "Creating and checking out new branch: $branch_with_new_commits"
+              git checkout -b "$branch_with_new_commits" "origin/$branch_with_new_commits"
+          fi
 
           echo "building ..."
           ./gradlew test