diff --git a/lib/platform/azure/index.spec.ts b/lib/platform/azure/index.spec.ts
index 4a4d8bcc555d82380d833b327e12fe7f04d766d7..f9946440b64becf237bf0b0c11054f8b2ffba608 100644
--- a/lib/platform/azure/index.spec.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/azure/index.spec.ts
@@ -1245,6 +1245,7 @@ describe('platform/azure/index', () => {
       const res = await azure.getJsonFile('file.json');
       expect(res).toEqual(data);
     });
+
     it('returns file content in json5 format', async () => {
       const json5Data = `
         { 
@@ -1263,6 +1264,21 @@ describe('platform/azure/index', () => {
       const res = await azure.getJsonFile('file.json5');
       expect(res).toEqual({ foo: 'bar' });
     });
+
+    it('ignores branchOrTag', async () => {
+      const data = { foo: 'bar' };
+      azureApi.gitApi.mockImplementationOnce(
+        () =>
+          ({
+            getItemContent: jest.fn(() =>
+              Promise.resolve(Readable.from(JSON.stringify(data)))
+            ),
+          } as any)
+      );
+      const res = await azure.getJsonFile('file.json', undefined, 'dev');
+      expect(res).toEqual(data);
+    });
+
     it('throws on malformed JSON', async () => {
       azureApi.gitApi.mockImplementationOnce(
         () =>
diff --git a/lib/platform/azure/index.ts b/lib/platform/azure/index.ts
index adacb465fef94d67c023c49e62a544439337f67b..cccec641fd7755a8e64c28992ce71d0e94815c32 100644
--- a/lib/platform/azure/index.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/azure/index.ts
@@ -113,7 +113,8 @@ export async function getRepos(): Promise<string[]> {
 
 export async function getRawFile(
   fileName: string,
-  repoName?: string
+  repoName?: string,
+  branchOrTag?: string
 ): Promise<string | null> {
   const azureApiGit = await azureApi.gitApi();
 
@@ -133,9 +134,10 @@ export async function getRawFile(
 
 export async function getJsonFile(
   fileName: string,
-  repoName?: string
+  repoName?: string,
+  branchOrTag?: string
 ): Promise<any | null> {
-  const raw = await getRawFile(fileName, repoName);
+  const raw = await getRawFile(fileName, repoName, branchOrTag);
   if (fileName.endsWith('.json5')) {
     return JSON5.parse(raw);
   }
diff --git a/lib/platform/bitbucket-server/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap b/lib/platform/bitbucket-server/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap
index ac53786634db0848b3c8f3cbc2f79a8aef0ab708..e1dba3d9a65bcafeed1d52592bf4d205e96cb5a3 100644
--- a/lib/platform/bitbucket-server/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap
+++ b/lib/platform/bitbucket-server/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap
@@ -2027,6 +2027,47 @@ Array [
 ]
 `;
 
+exports[`platform/bitbucket-server/index endpoint with no path getJsonFile() ignores branchOrTag argument 1`] = `
+Array [
+  Object {
+    "headers": Object {
+      "accept": "application/json",
+      "accept-encoding": "gzip, deflate, br",
+      "authorization": "Basic YWJjOjEyMw==",
+      "host": "stash.renovatebot.com",
+      "user-agent": "RenovateBot/0.0.0-semantic-release (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate)",
+      "x-atlassian-token": "no-check",
+    },
+    "method": "GET",
+    "url": "https://stash.renovatebot.com/rest/api/1.0/projects/SOME/repos/repo",
+  },
+  Object {
+    "headers": Object {
+      "accept": "application/json",
+      "accept-encoding": "gzip, deflate, br",
+      "authorization": "Basic YWJjOjEyMw==",
+      "host": "stash.renovatebot.com",
+      "user-agent": "RenovateBot/0.0.0-semantic-release (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate)",
+      "x-atlassian-token": "no-check",
+    },
+    "method": "GET",
+    "url": "https://stash.renovatebot.com/rest/api/1.0/projects/SOME/repos/repo/branches/default",
+  },
+  Object {
+    "headers": Object {
+      "accept": "application/json",
+      "accept-encoding": "gzip, deflate, br",
+      "authorization": "Basic YWJjOjEyMw==",
+      "host": "stash.renovatebot.com",
+      "user-agent": "RenovateBot/0.0.0-semantic-release (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate)",
+      "x-atlassian-token": "no-check",
+    },
+    "method": "GET",
+    "url": "https://stash.renovatebot.com/rest/api/1.0/projects/SOME/repos/repo/browse/file.json?limit=20000",
+  },
+]
+`;
+
 exports[`platform/bitbucket-server/index endpoint with no path getJsonFile() returns file content 1`] = `
 Array [
   Object {
@@ -2068,6 +2109,47 @@ Array [
 ]
 `;
 
+exports[`platform/bitbucket-server/index endpoint with no path getJsonFile() returns file content from given repo 1`] = `
+Array [
+  Object {
+    "headers": Object {
+      "accept": "application/json",
+      "accept-encoding": "gzip, deflate, br",
+      "authorization": "Basic YWJjOjEyMw==",
+      "host": "stash.renovatebot.com",
+      "user-agent": "RenovateBot/0.0.0-semantic-release (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate)",
+      "x-atlassian-token": "no-check",
+    },
+    "method": "GET",
+    "url": "https://stash.renovatebot.com/rest/api/1.0/projects/SOME/repos/repo",
+  },
+  Object {
+    "headers": Object {
+      "accept": "application/json",
+      "accept-encoding": "gzip, deflate, br",
+      "authorization": "Basic YWJjOjEyMw==",
+      "host": "stash.renovatebot.com",
+      "user-agent": "RenovateBot/0.0.0-semantic-release (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate)",
+      "x-atlassian-token": "no-check",
+    },
+    "method": "GET",
+    "url": "https://stash.renovatebot.com/rest/api/1.0/projects/SOME/repos/repo/branches/default",
+  },
+  Object {
+    "headers": Object {
+      "accept": "application/json",
+      "accept-encoding": "gzip, deflate, br",
+      "authorization": "Basic YWJjOjEyMw==",
+      "host": "stash.renovatebot.com",
+      "user-agent": "RenovateBot/0.0.0-semantic-release (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate)",
+      "x-atlassian-token": "no-check",
+    },
+    "method": "GET",
+    "url": "https://stash.renovatebot.com/rest/api/1.0/projects/DIFFERENT/repos/repo/browse/file.json?limit=20000",
+  },
+]
+`;
+
 exports[`platform/bitbucket-server/index endpoint with no path getJsonFile() returns file content in json5 format 1`] = `
 Array [
   Object {
@@ -6443,6 +6525,47 @@ Array [
 ]
 `;
 
+exports[`platform/bitbucket-server/index endpoint with path getJsonFile() ignores branchOrTag argument 1`] = `
+Array [
+  Object {
+    "headers": Object {
+      "accept": "application/json",
+      "accept-encoding": "gzip, deflate, br",
+      "authorization": "Basic YWJjOjEyMw==",
+      "host": "stash.renovatebot.com",
+      "user-agent": "RenovateBot/0.0.0-semantic-release (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate)",
+      "x-atlassian-token": "no-check",
+    },
+    "method": "GET",
+    "url": "https://stash.renovatebot.com/vcs/rest/api/1.0/projects/SOME/repos/repo",
+  },
+  Object {
+    "headers": Object {
+      "accept": "application/json",
+      "accept-encoding": "gzip, deflate, br",
+      "authorization": "Basic YWJjOjEyMw==",
+      "host": "stash.renovatebot.com",
+      "user-agent": "RenovateBot/0.0.0-semantic-release (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate)",
+      "x-atlassian-token": "no-check",
+    },
+    "method": "GET",
+    "url": "https://stash.renovatebot.com/vcs/rest/api/1.0/projects/SOME/repos/repo/branches/default",
+  },
+  Object {
+    "headers": Object {
+      "accept": "application/json",
+      "accept-encoding": "gzip, deflate, br",
+      "authorization": "Basic YWJjOjEyMw==",
+      "host": "stash.renovatebot.com",
+      "user-agent": "RenovateBot/0.0.0-semantic-release (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate)",
+      "x-atlassian-token": "no-check",
+    },
+    "method": "GET",
+    "url": "https://stash.renovatebot.com/vcs/rest/api/1.0/projects/SOME/repos/repo/browse/file.json?limit=20000",
+  },
+]
+`;
+
 exports[`platform/bitbucket-server/index endpoint with path getJsonFile() returns file content 1`] = `
 Array [
   Object {
@@ -6484,6 +6607,47 @@ Array [
 ]
 `;
 
+exports[`platform/bitbucket-server/index endpoint with path getJsonFile() returns file content from given repo 1`] = `
+Array [
+  Object {
+    "headers": Object {
+      "accept": "application/json",
+      "accept-encoding": "gzip, deflate, br",
+      "authorization": "Basic YWJjOjEyMw==",
+      "host": "stash.renovatebot.com",
+      "user-agent": "RenovateBot/0.0.0-semantic-release (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate)",
+      "x-atlassian-token": "no-check",
+    },
+    "method": "GET",
+    "url": "https://stash.renovatebot.com/vcs/rest/api/1.0/projects/SOME/repos/repo",
+  },
+  Object {
+    "headers": Object {
+      "accept": "application/json",
+      "accept-encoding": "gzip, deflate, br",
+      "authorization": "Basic YWJjOjEyMw==",
+      "host": "stash.renovatebot.com",
+      "user-agent": "RenovateBot/0.0.0-semantic-release (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate)",
+      "x-atlassian-token": "no-check",
+    },
+    "method": "GET",
+    "url": "https://stash.renovatebot.com/vcs/rest/api/1.0/projects/SOME/repos/repo/branches/default",
+  },
+  Object {
+    "headers": Object {
+      "accept": "application/json",
+      "accept-encoding": "gzip, deflate, br",
+      "authorization": "Basic YWJjOjEyMw==",
+      "host": "stash.renovatebot.com",
+      "user-agent": "RenovateBot/0.0.0-semantic-release (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate)",
+      "x-atlassian-token": "no-check",
+    },
+    "method": "GET",
+    "url": "https://stash.renovatebot.com/vcs/rest/api/1.0/projects/DIFFERENT/repos/repo/browse/file.json?limit=20000",
+  },
+]
+`;
+
 exports[`platform/bitbucket-server/index endpoint with path getJsonFile() returns file content in json5 format 1`] = `
 Array [
   Object {
diff --git a/lib/platform/bitbucket-server/index.spec.ts b/lib/platform/bitbucket-server/index.spec.ts
index 2f77e0e4d03f0158d1d7082153d0ffa9c2360920..cdd64adf09190fc6ab3b070a3dc9d39d90b448ae 100644
--- a/lib/platform/bitbucket-server/index.spec.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/bitbucket-server/index.spec.ts
@@ -2109,6 +2109,7 @@ Followed by some information.
           expect(res).toEqual(data);
           expect(httpMock.getTrace()).toMatchSnapshot();
         });
+
         it('returns file content in json5 format', async () => {
           const json5Data = `
           { 
@@ -2129,6 +2130,46 @@ Followed by some information.
           expect(res).toEqual({ foo: 'bar' });
           expect(httpMock.getTrace()).toMatchSnapshot();
         });
+
+        it('returns file content from given repo', async () => {
+          const data = { foo: 'bar' };
+          const scope = await initRepo();
+          scope
+            .get(
+              `${urlPath}/rest/api/1.0/projects/DIFFERENT/repos/repo/browse/file.json?limit=20000`
+            )
+            .reply(200, {
+              isLastPage: true,
+              lines: [{ text: JSON.stringify(data) }],
+            });
+          const res = await bitbucket.getJsonFile(
+            'file.json',
+            'DIFFERENT/repo'
+          );
+          expect(res).toEqual(data);
+          expect(httpMock.getTrace()).toMatchSnapshot();
+        });
+
+        it('ignores branchOrTag argument', async () => {
+          const data = { foo: 'bar' };
+          const scope = await initRepo();
+          scope
+            .get(
+              `${urlPath}/rest/api/1.0/projects/SOME/repos/repo/browse/file.json?limit=20000`
+            )
+            .reply(200, {
+              isLastPage: true,
+              lines: [{ text: JSON.stringify(data) }],
+            });
+          const res = await bitbucket.getJsonFile(
+            'file.json',
+            'SOME/repo',
+            'dev'
+          );
+          expect(res).toEqual(data);
+          expect(httpMock.getTrace()).toMatchSnapshot();
+        });
+
         it('throws on malformed JSON', async () => {
           const scope = await initRepo();
           scope
diff --git a/lib/platform/bitbucket-server/index.ts b/lib/platform/bitbucket-server/index.ts
index 5b06c01dbc45b96ab7244c57c8f0e2d2449c9e0c..f7d2a194da7f0a96ad847b774ae0c4c48a5ebcc7 100644
--- a/lib/platform/bitbucket-server/index.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/bitbucket-server/index.ts
@@ -123,9 +123,11 @@ export async function getRepos(): Promise<string[]> {
 
 export async function getRawFile(
   fileName: string,
-  repoName: string = config.repository
+  repoName?: string,
+  branchOrTag?: string
 ): Promise<string | null> {
-  const [project, slug] = repoName.split('/');
+  const repo = repoName ?? config.repository;
+  const [project, slug] = repo.split('/');
   const fileUrl = `./rest/api/1.0/projects/${project}/repos/${slug}/browse/${fileName}?limit=20000`;
   const res = await bitbucketServerHttp.getJson<FileData>(fileUrl);
   const { isLastPage, lines, size } = res.body;
@@ -139,9 +141,10 @@ export async function getRawFile(
 
 export async function getJsonFile(
   fileName: string,
-  repoName: string = config.repository
+  repoName?: string,
+  branchOrTag?: string
 ): Promise<any | null> {
-  const raw = await getRawFile(fileName, repoName);
+  const raw = await getRawFile(fileName, repoName, branchOrTag);
   if (fileName.endsWith('.json5')) {
     return JSON5.parse(raw);
   }
diff --git a/lib/platform/bitbucket/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap b/lib/platform/bitbucket/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap
index 44df44b929326c7291030c749fca17c0dc7118d0..5a3567ff52045f9d71fd439ffb2e31044c17d48c 100644
--- a/lib/platform/bitbucket/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap
+++ b/lib/platform/bitbucket/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap
@@ -912,6 +912,32 @@ Array [
 ]
 `;
 
+exports[`platform/bitbucket/index getJsonFile() ignores branchOrTag 1`] = `
+Array [
+  Object {
+    "headers": Object {
+      "accept": "application/json",
+      "accept-encoding": "gzip, deflate, br",
+      "authorization": "Basic YWJjOjEyMw==",
+      "host": "api.bitbucket.org",
+      "user-agent": "RenovateBot/0.0.0-semantic-release (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate)",
+    },
+    "method": "GET",
+    "url": "https://api.bitbucket.org/2.0/repositories/some/repo",
+  },
+  Object {
+    "headers": Object {
+      "accept-encoding": "gzip, deflate, br",
+      "authorization": "Basic YWJjOjEyMw==",
+      "host": "api.bitbucket.org",
+      "user-agent": "RenovateBot/0.0.0-semantic-release (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate)",
+    },
+    "method": "GET",
+    "url": "https://api.bitbucket.org/2.0/repositories/some/repo/src/HEAD/file.json",
+  },
+]
+`;
+
 exports[`platform/bitbucket/index getJsonFile() returns file content 1`] = `
 Array [
   Object {
@@ -938,6 +964,32 @@ Array [
 ]
 `;
 
+exports[`platform/bitbucket/index getJsonFile() returns file content from given repo 1`] = `
+Array [
+  Object {
+    "headers": Object {
+      "accept": "application/json",
+      "accept-encoding": "gzip, deflate, br",
+      "authorization": "Basic YWJjOjEyMw==",
+      "host": "api.bitbucket.org",
+      "user-agent": "RenovateBot/0.0.0-semantic-release (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate)",
+    },
+    "method": "GET",
+    "url": "https://api.bitbucket.org/2.0/repositories/some/repo",
+  },
+  Object {
+    "headers": Object {
+      "accept-encoding": "gzip, deflate, br",
+      "authorization": "Basic YWJjOjEyMw==",
+      "host": "api.bitbucket.org",
+      "user-agent": "RenovateBot/0.0.0-semantic-release (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate)",
+    },
+    "method": "GET",
+    "url": "https://api.bitbucket.org/2.0/repositories/different/repo/src/HEAD/file.json",
+  },
+]
+`;
+
 exports[`platform/bitbucket/index getJsonFile() returns file content in json5 format 1`] = `
 Array [
   Object {
diff --git a/lib/platform/bitbucket/index.spec.ts b/lib/platform/bitbucket/index.spec.ts
index 2f8bda30a35b932dd20b2441a0ef52b6d4d1b322..05cc557e711eeb516c77aea701005f396fb787c1 100644
--- a/lib/platform/bitbucket/index.spec.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/bitbucket/index.spec.ts
@@ -938,6 +938,7 @@ describe('platform/bitbucket/index', () => {
       expect(res).toEqual(data);
       expect(httpMock.getTrace()).toMatchSnapshot();
     });
+
     it('returns file content in json5 format', async () => {
       const json5Data = `
         { 
@@ -953,6 +954,29 @@ describe('platform/bitbucket/index', () => {
       expect(res).toEqual({ foo: 'bar' });
       expect(httpMock.getTrace()).toMatchSnapshot();
     });
+
+    it('returns file content from given repo', async () => {
+      const data = { foo: 'bar' };
+      const scope = await initRepoMock();
+      scope
+        .get('/2.0/repositories/different/repo/src/HEAD/file.json')
+        .reply(200, JSON.stringify(data));
+      const res = await bitbucket.getJsonFile('file.json', 'different/repo');
+      expect(res).toEqual(data);
+      expect(httpMock.getTrace()).toMatchSnapshot();
+    });
+
+    it('ignores branchOrTag', async () => {
+      const data = { foo: 'bar' };
+      const scope = await initRepoMock();
+      scope
+        .get('/2.0/repositories/some/repo/src/HEAD/file.json')
+        .reply(200, JSON.stringify(data));
+      const res = await bitbucket.getJsonFile('file.json', 'some/repo', 'dev');
+      expect(res).toEqual(data);
+      expect(httpMock.getTrace()).toMatchSnapshot();
+    });
+
     it('throws on malformed JSON', async () => {
       const scope = await initRepoMock();
       scope
diff --git a/lib/platform/bitbucket/index.ts b/lib/platform/bitbucket/index.ts
index 4ec06444c1b78acbc90e40d1e87145aa8c3c42df..31b36a17ff5d94390e8a0d9f11f0a5bc5b276871 100644
--- a/lib/platform/bitbucket/index.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/bitbucket/index.ts
@@ -110,20 +110,23 @@ export async function getRepos(): Promise<string[]> {
 
 export async function getRawFile(
   fileName: string,
-  repoName: string = config.repository
+  repoName?: string,
+  branchOrTag?: string
 ): Promise<string | null> {
   // See: https://developer.atlassian.com/bitbucket/api/2/reference/resource/repositories/%7Bworkspace%7D/%7Brepo_slug%7D/src/%7Bcommit%7D/%7Bpath%7D
+  const repo = repoName ?? config.repository;
   const path = fileName;
-  const url = `/2.0/repositories/${repoName}/src/HEAD/${path}`;
+  const url = `/2.0/repositories/${repo}/src/HEAD/${path}`;
   const res = await bitbucketHttp.get(url);
   return res.body;
 }
 
 export async function getJsonFile(
   fileName: string,
-  repoName: string = config.repository
+  repoName?: string,
+  branchOrTag?: string
 ): Promise<any | null> {
-  const raw = await getRawFile(fileName, repoName);
+  const raw = await getRawFile(fileName, repoName, branchOrTag);
   if (fileName.endsWith('.json5')) {
     return JSON5.parse(raw);
   }
diff --git a/lib/platform/gitea/index.spec.ts b/lib/platform/gitea/index.spec.ts
index 01af9de574a19b4cc1305659f5bbc5f8a77a7b0e..871c400d0271bb5bd2461afe430282940f1dbeaa 100644
--- a/lib/platform/gitea/index.spec.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/gitea/index.spec.ts
@@ -1527,6 +1527,27 @@ describe('platform/gitea/index', () => {
       const res = await gitea.getJsonFile('file.json');
       expect(res).toEqual(data);
     });
+
+    it('returns file content from given repo', async () => {
+      const data = { foo: 'bar' };
+      helper.getRepoContents.mockResolvedValueOnce({
+        contentString: JSON.stringify(data),
+      } as never);
+      await initFakeRepo({ full_name: 'different/repo' });
+      const res = await gitea.getJsonFile('file.json', 'different/repo');
+      expect(res).toEqual(data);
+    });
+
+    it('ignores branchOrTag', async () => {
+      const data = { foo: 'bar' };
+      helper.getRepoContents.mockResolvedValueOnce({
+        contentString: JSON.stringify(data),
+      } as never);
+      await initFakeRepo({ full_name: 'some/repo' });
+      const res = await gitea.getJsonFile('file.json', 'some/repo', 'dev');
+      expect(res).toEqual(data);
+    });
+
     it('returns file content in json5 format', async () => {
       const json5Data = `
         { 
diff --git a/lib/platform/gitea/index.ts b/lib/platform/gitea/index.ts
index e006e8883d530072c3f8a4a90392c4c5a3dde4d1..9ed3cd688c0fa2f5b6d07662365f5cfddbbe8c9b 100644
--- a/lib/platform/gitea/index.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/gitea/index.ts
@@ -211,17 +211,20 @@ const platform: Platform = {
 
   async getRawFile(
     fileName: string,
-    repoName: string = config.repository
+    repoName?: string,
+    branchOrTag?: string
   ): Promise<string | null> {
-    const contents = await helper.getRepoContents(repoName, fileName);
+    const repo = repoName ?? config.repository;
+    const contents = await helper.getRepoContents(repo, fileName);
     return contents.contentString;
   },
 
   async getJsonFile(
     fileName: string,
-    repoName: string = config.repository
+    repoName?: string,
+    branchOrTag?: string
   ): Promise<any | null> {
-    const raw = await platform.getRawFile(fileName, repoName);
+    const raw = await platform.getRawFile(fileName, repoName, branchOrTag);
     if (fileName.endsWith('.json5')) {
       return JSON5.parse(raw);
     }
diff --git a/lib/platform/github/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap b/lib/platform/github/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap
index 57fcf445b09bf37640af806ae16bdc90eef7ed4e..e95821a17a60e78b11c2050622e19bf80e8785d6 100644
--- a/lib/platform/github/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap
+++ b/lib/platform/github/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap
@@ -4945,6 +4945,67 @@ Array [
 ]
 `;
 
+exports[`platform/github/index getJsonFile() ignores branchOrTag 1`] = `
+Array [
+  Object {
+    "graphql": Object {
+      "query": Object {
+        "__vars": Object {
+          "$name": "String!",
+          "$owner": "String!",
+        },
+        "repository": Object {
+          "__args": Object {
+            "name": "$name",
+            "owner": "$owner",
+          },
+          "autoMergeAllowed": null,
+          "defaultBranchRef": Object {
+            "name": null,
+            "target": Object {
+              "oid": null,
+            },
+          },
+          "hasIssuesEnabled": null,
+          "isArchived": null,
+          "isFork": null,
+          "mergeCommitAllowed": null,
+          "nameWithOwner": null,
+          "rebaseMergeAllowed": null,
+          "squashMergeAllowed": null,
+        },
+      },
+      "variables": Object {
+        "name": "repo",
+        "owner": "some",
+      },
+    },
+    "headers": Object {
+      "accept": "application/vnd.github.v3+json",
+      "accept-encoding": "gzip, deflate, br",
+      "authorization": "token 123test",
+      "content-length": "395",
+      "content-type": "application/json",
+      "host": "api.github.com",
+      "user-agent": "RenovateBot/0.0.0-semantic-release (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate)",
+    },
+    "method": "POST",
+    "url": "https://api.github.com/graphql",
+  },
+  Object {
+    "headers": Object {
+      "accept": "application/vnd.github.v3+json",
+      "accept-encoding": "gzip, deflate, br",
+      "authorization": "token 123test",
+      "host": "api.github.com",
+      "user-agent": "RenovateBot/0.0.0-semantic-release (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate)",
+    },
+    "method": "GET",
+    "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/some/repo/contents/file.json",
+  },
+]
+`;
+
 exports[`platform/github/index getJsonFile() returns file content 1`] = `
 Array [
   Object {
@@ -5006,6 +5067,67 @@ Array [
 ]
 `;
 
+exports[`platform/github/index getJsonFile() returns file content from given repo 1`] = `
+Array [
+  Object {
+    "graphql": Object {
+      "query": Object {
+        "__vars": Object {
+          "$name": "String!",
+          "$owner": "String!",
+        },
+        "repository": Object {
+          "__args": Object {
+            "name": "$name",
+            "owner": "$owner",
+          },
+          "autoMergeAllowed": null,
+          "defaultBranchRef": Object {
+            "name": null,
+            "target": Object {
+              "oid": null,
+            },
+          },
+          "hasIssuesEnabled": null,
+          "isArchived": null,
+          "isFork": null,
+          "mergeCommitAllowed": null,
+          "nameWithOwner": null,
+          "rebaseMergeAllowed": null,
+          "squashMergeAllowed": null,
+        },
+      },
+      "variables": Object {
+        "name": "repo",
+        "owner": "different",
+      },
+    },
+    "headers": Object {
+      "accept": "application/vnd.github.v3+json",
+      "accept-encoding": "gzip, deflate, br",
+      "authorization": "token 123test",
+      "content-length": "400",
+      "content-type": "application/json",
+      "host": "api.github.com",
+      "user-agent": "RenovateBot/0.0.0-semantic-release (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate)",
+    },
+    "method": "POST",
+    "url": "https://api.github.com/graphql",
+  },
+  Object {
+    "headers": Object {
+      "accept": "application/vnd.github.v3+json",
+      "accept-encoding": "gzip, deflate, br",
+      "authorization": "token 123test",
+      "host": "api.github.com",
+      "user-agent": "RenovateBot/0.0.0-semantic-release (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate)",
+    },
+    "method": "GET",
+    "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/different/repo/contents/file.json",
+  },
+]
+`;
+
 exports[`platform/github/index getJsonFile() returns file content in json5 format 1`] = `
 Array [
   Object {
diff --git a/lib/platform/github/index.spec.ts b/lib/platform/github/index.spec.ts
index 1f4cb3419dfc62e0462b5cf43db18e2a20c52149..a16ab9c08e44a446458b7829f4a888d3034c897b 100644
--- a/lib/platform/github/index.spec.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/github/index.spec.ts
@@ -2410,6 +2410,7 @@ describe('platform/github/index', () => {
       expect(res).toEqual(data);
       expect(httpMock.getTrace()).toMatchSnapshot();
     });
+
     it('returns file content in json5 format', async () => {
       const json5Data = `
         {
@@ -2427,6 +2428,36 @@ describe('platform/github/index', () => {
       expect(res).toEqual({ foo: 'bar' });
       expect(httpMock.getTrace()).toMatchSnapshot();
     });
+
+    it('returns file content from given repo', async () => {
+      const data = { foo: 'bar' };
+      const scope = httpMock.scope(githubApiHost);
+      initRepoMock(scope, 'different/repo');
+      await github.initRepo({
+        repository: 'different/repo',
+        token: 'token',
+      } as any);
+      scope.get('/repos/different/repo/contents/file.json').reply(200, {
+        content: Buffer.from(JSON.stringify(data)).toString('base64'),
+      });
+      const res = await github.getJsonFile('file.json', 'different/repo');
+      expect(res).toEqual(data);
+      expect(httpMock.getTrace()).toMatchSnapshot();
+    });
+
+    it('ignores branchOrTag', async () => {
+      const data = { foo: 'bar' };
+      const scope = httpMock.scope(githubApiHost);
+      initRepoMock(scope, 'some/repo');
+      await github.initRepo({ repository: 'some/repo', token: 'token' } as any);
+      scope.get('/repos/some/repo/contents/file.json').reply(200, {
+        content: Buffer.from(JSON.stringify(data)).toString('base64'),
+      });
+      const res = await github.getJsonFile('file.json', 'some/repo', 'dev');
+      expect(res).toEqual(data);
+      expect(httpMock.getTrace()).toMatchSnapshot();
+    });
+
     it('throws on malformed JSON', async () => {
       const scope = httpMock.scope(githubApiHost);
       initRepoMock(scope, 'some/repo');
diff --git a/lib/platform/github/index.ts b/lib/platform/github/index.ts
index e6b50f7f872ca02ab6d5918cbe4856d7110d51ee..4ead5ef8faf230fb66db8d90e574ff000b3c8ceb 100644
--- a/lib/platform/github/index.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/github/index.ts
@@ -173,9 +173,11 @@ async function getBranchProtection(
 
 export async function getRawFile(
   fileName: string,
-  repoName: string = config.repository
+  repoName?: string,
+  branchOrTag?: string
 ): Promise<string | null> {
-  const url = `repos/${repoName}/contents/${fileName}`;
+  const repo = repoName ?? config.repository;
+  const url = `repos/${repo}/contents/${fileName}`;
   const res = await githubApi.getJson<{ content: string }>(url);
   const buf = res.body.content;
   const str = Buffer.from(buf, 'base64').toString();
@@ -184,9 +186,10 @@ export async function getRawFile(
 
 export async function getJsonFile(
   fileName: string,
-  repoName: string = config.repository
+  repoName?: string,
+  branchOrTag?: string
 ): Promise<any | null> {
-  const raw = await getRawFile(fileName, repoName);
+  const raw = await getRawFile(fileName, repoName, branchOrTag);
   if (fileName.endsWith('.json5')) {
     return JSON5.parse(raw);
   }
diff --git a/lib/platform/gitlab/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap b/lib/platform/gitlab/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap
index 35afb53a28cdcd8d87166662d955748f1f738037..9a4910787a5d7a22b0aebbbb1c411610179fe177 100644
--- a/lib/platform/gitlab/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap
+++ b/lib/platform/gitlab/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap
@@ -2272,6 +2272,33 @@ Array [
 ]
 `;
 
+exports[`platform/gitlab/index getJsonFile() ingores branchOrTag 1`] = `
+Array [
+  Object {
+    "headers": Object {
+      "accept": "application/json",
+      "accept-encoding": "gzip, deflate, br",
+      "authorization": "Bearer 123test",
+      "host": "gitlab.com",
+      "user-agent": "RenovateBot/0.0.0-semantic-release (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate)",
+    },
+    "method": "GET",
+    "url": "https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/some%2Frepo",
+  },
+  Object {
+    "headers": Object {
+      "accept": "application/json",
+      "accept-encoding": "gzip, deflate, br",
+      "authorization": "Bearer 123test",
+      "host": "gitlab.com",
+      "user-agent": "RenovateBot/0.0.0-semantic-release (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate)",
+    },
+    "method": "GET",
+    "url": "https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/some%2Frepo/repository/files/dir%2Ffile.json?ref=HEAD",
+  },
+]
+`;
+
 exports[`platform/gitlab/index getJsonFile() returns file content 1`] = `
 Array [
   Object {
@@ -2299,6 +2326,33 @@ Array [
 ]
 `;
 
+exports[`platform/gitlab/index getJsonFile() returns file content from given repo 1`] = `
+Array [
+  Object {
+    "headers": Object {
+      "accept": "application/json",
+      "accept-encoding": "gzip, deflate, br",
+      "authorization": "Bearer 123test",
+      "host": "gitlab.com",
+      "user-agent": "RenovateBot/0.0.0-semantic-release (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate)",
+    },
+    "method": "GET",
+    "url": "https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/some%2Frepo",
+  },
+  Object {
+    "headers": Object {
+      "accept": "application/json",
+      "accept-encoding": "gzip, deflate, br",
+      "authorization": "Bearer 123test",
+      "host": "gitlab.com",
+      "user-agent": "RenovateBot/0.0.0-semantic-release (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate)",
+    },
+    "method": "GET",
+    "url": "https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/different%2Frepo/repository/files/dir%2Ffile.json?ref=HEAD",
+  },
+]
+`;
+
 exports[`platform/gitlab/index getJsonFile() returns file content in json5 format 1`] = `
 Array [
   Object {
diff --git a/lib/platform/gitlab/index.spec.ts b/lib/platform/gitlab/index.spec.ts
index f269426ed379b6f6697b9b9d19f42deab9b84ac4..e4f42a679177d889363c48f141010baf03e06996 100644
--- a/lib/platform/gitlab/index.spec.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/gitlab/index.spec.ts
@@ -1984,6 +1984,7 @@ These updates have all been created already. Click a checkbox below to force a r
       expect(res).toEqual(data);
       expect(httpMock.getTrace()).toMatchSnapshot();
     });
+
     it('returns file content in json5 format', async () => {
       const json5Data = `
         { 
@@ -2003,6 +2004,41 @@ These updates have all been created already. Click a checkbox below to force a r
       expect(res).toEqual({ foo: 'bar' });
       expect(httpMock.getTrace()).toMatchSnapshot();
     });
+
+    it('returns file content from given repo', async () => {
+      const data = { foo: 'bar' };
+      const scope = await initRepo();
+      scope
+        .get(
+          '/api/v4/projects/different%2Frepo/repository/files/dir%2Ffile.json?ref=HEAD'
+        )
+        .reply(200, {
+          content: Buffer.from(JSON.stringify(data)).toString('base64'),
+        });
+      const res = await gitlab.getJsonFile('dir/file.json', 'different%2Frepo');
+      expect(res).toEqual(data);
+      expect(httpMock.getTrace()).toMatchSnapshot();
+    });
+
+    it('ingores branchOrTag', async () => {
+      const data = { foo: 'bar' };
+      const scope = await initRepo();
+      scope
+        .get(
+          '/api/v4/projects/some%2Frepo/repository/files/dir%2Ffile.json?ref=HEAD'
+        )
+        .reply(200, {
+          content: Buffer.from(JSON.stringify(data)).toString('base64'),
+        });
+      const res = await gitlab.getJsonFile(
+        'dir/file.json',
+        'some%2Frepo',
+        'dev'
+      );
+      expect(res).toEqual(data);
+      expect(httpMock.getTrace()).toMatchSnapshot();
+    });
+
     it('throws on malformed JSON', async () => {
       const scope = await initRepo();
       scope
diff --git a/lib/platform/gitlab/index.ts b/lib/platform/gitlab/index.ts
index 447e59dd4b584248489f1c5f5674d8137b976b01..059c3b54de96e8f2a209be884dd700cea62ffbd3 100644
--- a/lib/platform/gitlab/index.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/gitlab/index.ts
@@ -157,10 +157,12 @@ function urlEscape(str: string): string {
 
 export async function getRawFile(
   fileName: string,
-  repoName: string = config.repository
+  repoName?: string,
+  branchOrTag?: string
 ): Promise<string | null> {
   const escapedFileName = urlEscape(fileName);
-  const url = `projects/${repoName}/repository/files/${escapedFileName}?ref=HEAD`;
+  const repo = repoName ?? config.repository;
+  const url = `projects/${repo}/repository/files/${escapedFileName}?ref=HEAD`;
   const res = await gitlabApi.getJson<{ content: string }>(url);
   const buf = res.body.content;
   const str = Buffer.from(buf, 'base64').toString();
@@ -169,9 +171,10 @@ export async function getRawFile(
 
 export async function getJsonFile(
   fileName: string,
-  repoName: string = config.repository
+  repoName?: string,
+  branchOrTag?: string
 ): Promise<any | null> {
-  const raw = await getRawFile(fileName, repoName);
+  const raw = await getRawFile(fileName, repoName, branchOrTag);
   if (fileName.endsWith('.json5')) {
     return JSON5.parse(raw);
   }
diff --git a/lib/platform/types.ts b/lib/platform/types.ts
index 86768972bc5bc8cd0d2aa187d686a3dcc10d78d0..0c0936e446beffad4912944cc70051dba9c31843 100644
--- a/lib/platform/types.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/types.ts
@@ -153,8 +153,16 @@ export interface Platform {
   getIssueList(): Promise<Issue[]>;
   getIssue?(number: number, useCache?: boolean): Promise<Issue>;
   getVulnerabilityAlerts(): Promise<VulnerabilityAlert[]>;
-  getRawFile(fileName: string, repoName?: string): Promise<string | null>;
-  getJsonFile(fileName: string, repoName?: string): Promise<any | null>;
+  getRawFile(
+    fileName: string,
+    repoName?: string,
+    branchOrTag?: string
+  ): Promise<string | null>;
+  getJsonFile(
+    fileName: string,
+    repoName?: string,
+    branchOrTag?: string
+  ): Promise<any | null>;
   initRepo(config: RepoParams): Promise<RepoResult>;
   getPrList(): Promise<Pr[]>;
   ensureIssueClosing(title: string): Promise<void>;