diff --git a/.changeset/smooth-moons-bake.md b/.changeset/smooth-moons-bake.md
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@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+---
+'@backstage/plugin-scaffolder-backend-module-github': minor
+'@backstage/create-app': minor
+---
+
+**BREAKING** The `publish:github` scaffolder action defaults to initializing a branche named "main" instead of "master" when creating new repositories.
+
+If you or your organization have relied on all new github repositories having a default branch name of "master" you **must** set the `defaultBranch: 'master'` in your existing templates that feature the `publish:github` scaffolder action.
+
+To keep using the name "master" for your new github repos, these are the **required** changes:
+
+```diff
+    - id: publish
+      name: Publish
+      action: publish:github
+      input:
+        allowedHosts: ['github.com']
+        description: This is ${{ parameters.name }}
+        repoUrl: ${{ parameters.repoUrl }}
++       defaultBranch: 'master'
+```