diff --git a/release-controller/git_repo.py b/release-controller/git_repo.py
index cc2eb4943..197c5301b 100644
--- a/release-controller/git_repo.py
+++ b/release-controller/git_repo.py
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ def __init__(self, repo: str, repo_cache_dir=pathlib.Path.home() / ".cache/git",
             "authed/{}".format(repo.split("@", 1)[1]) if "@" in repo else repo.removeprefix("https://")
         )
         self.cache = {}
+        self.fetch()
 
     def __del__(self):
         """Clean up the temporary directory."""