diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/GithubDiscoveryProcessor.test.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/GithubDiscoveryProcessor.test.ts
index f8647cb5d2..4d16b824a3 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/GithubDiscoveryProcessor.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/GithubDiscoveryProcessor.test.ts
@@ -202,6 +202,12 @@ describe('GithubDiscoveryProcessor', () => {
               name: 'main',
             },
           },
+          {
+            name: 'techdocs-durp',
+            url: 'https://github.com/backstage/techdocs-durp',
+            isArchived: false,
+            defaultBranchRef: undefined,
+          },
         ],
       });
       const emitter = jest.fn();
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/GithubDiscoveryProcessor.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/GithubDiscoveryProcessor.ts
index 8bed5b4858..b104d87542 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/GithubDiscoveryProcessor.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/GithubDiscoveryProcessor.ts
@@ -108,15 +108,18 @@ export class GithubDiscoveryProcessor implements CatalogProcessor {
     );
 
     for (const repository of matching) {
-      const branchName = branch === '-' ? repository.defaultBranchRef?.name : branch;
-      
+      const branchName =
+        branch === '-' ? repository.defaultBranchRef?.name : branch;
+
       if (!branchName) {
-        this.logger.info(`the repository ${repository.url} does not have a default branch, skipping`);
+        this.logger.info(
+          `the repository ${repository.url} does not have a default branch, skipping`,
+        );
         continue;
       }
-      
+
       const path = `/blob/${branchName}${catalogPath}`;
-      
+
       emit(
         results.location(
           {
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/github/github.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/github/github.ts
index 9eb5073710..5ff3856f97 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/github/github.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/github/github.ts
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ export type Repository = {
   name: string;
   url: string;
   isArchived: boolean;
-  defaultBranchRef: {
+  defaultBranchRef?: {
     name: string;
   };
 };