diff --git a/collects/meta/build/build b/collects/meta/build/build
index 784d97e7df..bc37f13dc2 100755
--- a/collects/meta/build/build
+++ b/collects/meta/build/build
@@ -655,8 +655,7 @@ git_get() { # inputs: git repository, git branch, path in $maindir
   fi
   _cd "$dir"
   _run git checkout "$branch"
-  _run git pull --all
-  _run git checkout "$branch"
+  _run git pull --ff-only --all
   git status -s > "$tmpdir/git-st" || exit_error "problems running git status"
   if [[ -s "$tmpdir/git-st" ]]; then
     echo "------------"