diff --git a/.github/workflows/sync.yml b/.github/workflows/sync.yml
index c315fdb148..0e28ece8a6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/sync.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/sync.yml
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ jobs:
           version: "latest-everything"
 
       - name: Set Git default branch from nextflow.config and set git default branch to that or "master"
+
         run: |
           cd nf-core/${{ matrix.pipeline }}
           defaultBranch=$(grep -B5 -A5 "nextflowVersion" nextflow.config | grep "defaultBranch" | cut -d"=" -f2)
@@ -95,6 +96,7 @@ jobs:
             defaultBranch="master"
           fi
           echo "Default branch: $defaultBranch"
+          echo "defaultBranch=$defaultBranch" >> GITHUB_OUTPUT
           git config --global init.defaultBranch $defaultBranch
 
       - name: Run synchronisation
@@ -104,7 +106,9 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           git config --global user.email "core@nf-co.re"
           git config --global user.name "nf-core-bot"
-          nf-core --log-file sync_log_${{ matrix.pipeline }}.txt pipelines sync -d nf-core/${{ matrix.pipeline }} \
+          nf-core --log-file sync_log_${{ matrix.pipeline }}.txt
+            ${{ github.event.inputs.debug == 'true' && '--verbose' || '' }}
+            pipelines sync -d nf-core/${{ matrix.pipeline }} \
             --from-branch dev \
             --pull-request \
             --username nf-core-bot \
diff --git a/nf_core/pipelines/create/create.py b/nf_core/pipelines/create/create.py
index ae5bea57d5..0e2c683e6f 100644
--- a/nf_core/pipelines/create/create.py
+++ b/nf_core/pipelines/create/create.py
@@ -298,7 +298,6 @@ def render_template(self) -> None:
         template_dir = Path(nf_core.__file__).parent / "pipeline-template"
         object_attrs = self.jinja_params
         object_attrs["nf_core_version"] = nf_core.__version__
-
         # Can't use glob.glob() as need recursive hidden dotfiles - https://stackoverflow.com/a/58126417/713980
         template_files = list(Path(template_dir).glob("**/*"))
         template_files += list(Path(template_dir).glob("*"))
@@ -433,6 +432,7 @@ def get_default_branch(self) -> None:
             self.default_branch = (
                 str(git.config.GitConfigParser().get_value("init", "defaultBranch")) or "master"
             )  # default to master
+            log.debug(f"Default branch name: {self.default_branch}")
         except configparser.Error:
             log.debug("Could not read init.defaultBranch")
         if self.default_branch in ["dev", "TEMPLATE"]: