diff --git a/.github/workflows/called.yaml b/.github/workflows/called.yaml
index 737d977..584cc65 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/called.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/called.yaml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
       "with":
         "fetch-depth": 0
     - "name": "check for ${{ inputs.environment }}"
-      "run": "cat stacks/${{ inputs.environment }}/*"
+      "run": "[ ${{ inputs.environment }} != \"dev\" ]"
 "on":
   "workflow_call":
     "inputs":
diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yaml b/.github/workflows/main.yaml
index b538191..b49d6a9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yaml
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
     - "id": "generate"
       "name": "generate matrix"
       "run": |
-        output="$(for i in dev staging prod ; do [[ -z $(git diff --name-only origin/main...HEAD | grep -E "stacks/${i}") ]] || echo $i ; done)"
+        output="$(for i in dev staging prod ; do [[ -z $(git diff --name-only origin/master...HEAD | grep -E "stacks/${i}") ]] || echo $i ; done)"
         [ -z "$output" ] || echo "matrix=[\""${output//[ ]/\", \"}"\"]" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 "name": "main"
 "on":
diff --git a/globals.tm.hcl b/globals.tm.hcl
index f23a829..e07f0a5 100644
--- a/globals.tm.hcl
+++ b/globals.tm.hcl
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ globals "workflows" {
 }
 
 globals "repository" {
+  # my account is so old that the default branch was `master`
+  main = "master"
   # which environments to manage
   environments = ["dev", "staging", "prod"]
   # run workflows on all environments regardless of change
diff --git a/imports/called.tm.hcl b/imports/called.tm.hcl
index b9b5510..32a5b25 100644
--- a/imports/called.tm.hcl
+++ b/imports/called.tm.hcl
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ globals "workflow" "called" {
         },
         {
           name = "check for $${{ inputs.environment }}"
-          run  = "cat stacks/$${{ inputs.environment }}/*"
+          run  = "[ $${{ inputs.environment }} != \"dev\" ]"
         }
       ]
     }
diff --git a/imports/main.tm.hcl b/imports/main.tm.hcl
index 07c0304..77c4850 100644
--- a/imports/main.tm.hcl
+++ b/imports/main.tm.hcl
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ globals "workflow" "main" {
           name = "generate matrix"
           id   = "generate"
           run  = <<-EOF
-            output="$(for i in ${tm_join(" ", global.repository.environments)} ; do [[ -z $(git diff --name-only origin/main...HEAD | grep -E "stacks/$${i}") ]] || echo $i ; done)"
+            output="$(for i in ${tm_join(" ", global.repository.environments)} ; do [[ -z $(git diff --name-only origin/${global.repository.main}...HEAD | grep -E "stacks/$${i}") ]] || echo $i ; done)"
             [ -z "$output" ] || echo "matrix=[\""$${output//[ ]/\", \"}"\"]" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           EOF
         }
diff --git a/stacks/dev/file b/stacks/dev/file
index 6e3ceb2..a308764 100644
--- a/stacks/dev/file
+++ b/stacks/dev/file
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 this is dev!
+and it is doomed!