diff --git a/roles/openqa/dispatcher/tasks/main.yml b/roles/openqa/dispatcher/tasks/main.yml
index 40f745a756..b0b585d0cd 100644
--- a/roles/openqa/dispatcher/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/openqa/dispatcher/tasks/main.yml
@@ -60,11 +60,27 @@
   tags:
   - packages
 
+- name: Check tools directory exists with correct ownership
+  file: path=/root/fedora_openqa state=directory owner=root group=root
+
+# we don't want to run the checkout if the tests are on a non-standard
+# branch, as that usually means we're messing around on staging and
+# don't want the checkout reset to HEAD.
+- name: Check if tests are checked out and on a non-standard branch
+  command: "git status"
+  args:
+    chdir: /root/fedora_openqa
+  register: toolsbranch
+  failed_when: "1 != 1"
+  changed_when: "1 != 1"
+  check_mode: no
+
 - name: Check out fedora_openqa (scheduler / reporter tool)
   git:
     repo: https://pagure.io/fedora-qa/fedora_openqa.git
     dest: /root/fedora_openqa
   register: gittools
+  when: "(toolsbranch.stderr.find('Not a git repository') != -1) or (toolsbranch.stdout.find('On branch master') != -1)"
 
 - name: Check if fedora_openqa has ever been installed
   stat: path=/usr/bin/fedora-openqa