diff --git a/.github/workflows/promotion-checker.yml b/.github/workflows/promotion-checker.yml
index e18836d4..1da3c698 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/promotion-checker.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/promotion-checker.yml
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Check if pr.yml succeeded
         id: check_pr_workflow
         run: |
-          WORKFLOW_STATUS=$(gh run list --repo ${{ github.repository }} --branch ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }} --workflow "pr.yml" --json status --jq '.[0].status // "not found"')
+          WORKFLOW_STATUS=$(gh run list --repo ${{ github.repository }} --branch "$HEAD_REF" --workflow "pr.yml" --json status --jq '.[0].status // "not found"')
           echo "Previous workflow (pr.yml) status: $WORKFLOW_STATUS"
           if [ "$WORKFLOW_STATUS" != "completed" ]; then
             echo "Previous workflow (pr.yml) did not complete successfully. Exiting..."
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ jobs:
           fi
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          HEAD_REF: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }}
 
   trigger-promotion-workflow:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest