diff --git a/lib/platform/azure/index.ts b/lib/platform/azure/index.ts
index 6ab7e0f3a434821a6fabb20e2ba1dcf8e5bedfd1..6f24dba0b317350e60a53f07f5533b53d1701870 100644
--- a/lib/platform/azure/index.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/azure/index.ts
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ export /* istanbul ignore next */ async function setBaseBranch(
   logger.debug(`Setting baseBranch to ${branchName}`);
   config.baseBranch = branchName;
   delete config.baseCommitSHA;
-  const baseBranchSha = await git.setBaseBranch(branchName);
+  const baseBranchSha = await git.setBranch(branchName);
   return baseBranchSha;
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/platform/bitbucket-server/index.ts b/lib/platform/bitbucket-server/index.ts
index 933adbefbd92a3cd3e52b2f06e81a01bb3dee6e4..44cb2afb0160eb92213060c5cf6e3557a93de753 100644
--- a/lib/platform/bitbucket-server/index.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/bitbucket-server/index.ts
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ export async function setBaseBranch(
   branchName: string = config.defaultBranch
 ): Promise<string> {
   config.baseBranch = branchName;
-  const baseBranchSha = await git.setBaseBranch(branchName);
+  const baseBranchSha = await git.setBranch(branchName);
   return baseBranchSha;
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/platform/bitbucket/index.ts b/lib/platform/bitbucket/index.ts
index 0c6a45c9c3762cb5ea8bb77933a2c2fed5b5ccca..bb16658f8ba4e997a70a362745ac43cfe15bca55 100644
--- a/lib/platform/bitbucket/index.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/bitbucket/index.ts
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ export async function setBaseBranch(
   logger.debug(`Setting baseBranch to ${branchName}`);
   config.baseBranch = branchName;
   delete config.baseCommitSHA;
-  const baseBranchSha = await git.setBaseBranch(branchName);
+  const baseBranchSha = await git.setBranch(branchName);
   return baseBranchSha;
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/platform/gitea/index.spec.ts b/lib/platform/gitea/index.spec.ts
index d1810a68c2a42f7e17e7e1553f52caa01c0ebbeb..ab52ef1aaf99e71f72b13a00eee6e15b8bfa4013 100644
--- a/lib/platform/gitea/index.spec.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/gitea/index.spec.ts
@@ -390,18 +390,16 @@ describe('platform/gitea', () => {
       await initFakeRepo();
       await gitea.setBaseBranch();
 
-      expect(gitvcs.setBaseBranch).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
-      expect(gitvcs.setBaseBranch).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-        mockRepo.default_branch
-      );
+      expect(gitvcs.setBranch).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+      expect(gitvcs.setBranch).toHaveBeenCalledWith(mockRepo.default_branch);
     });
 
     it('should set custom base branch', async () => {
       await initFakeRepo();
       await gitea.setBaseBranch('devel');
 
-      expect(gitvcs.setBaseBranch).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
-      expect(gitvcs.setBaseBranch).toHaveBeenCalledWith('devel');
+      expect(gitvcs.setBranch).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+      expect(gitvcs.setBranch).toHaveBeenCalledWith('devel');
     });
   });
 
diff --git a/lib/platform/gitea/index.ts b/lib/platform/gitea/index.ts
index 9936f238b9aa8f6dbb6b84f444e17f4481cdcafc..7cccb5419b624dd6a1c669948a72ccc02e9a12c1 100644
--- a/lib/platform/gitea/index.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/gitea/index.ts
@@ -449,7 +449,7 @@ const platform: Platform = {
     baseBranch: string = config.defaultBranch
   ): Promise<string> {
     config.baseBranch = baseBranch;
-    const baseBranchSha = await git.setBaseBranch(baseBranch);
+    const baseBranchSha = await git.setBranch(baseBranch);
     return baseBranchSha;
   },
 
diff --git a/lib/platform/github/index.ts b/lib/platform/github/index.ts
index 652ff6b674874286b9cb221ba3a610d75826dc2e..abd2a86dcb73aa4c18be282988ddeda48f347f58 100644
--- a/lib/platform/github/index.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/github/index.ts
@@ -497,7 +497,7 @@ export async function setBaseBranch(
 ): Promise<string> {
   config.baseBranch = branchName;
   config.baseCommitSHA = null;
-  const baseBranchSha = await git.setBaseBranch(branchName);
+  const baseBranchSha = await git.setBranch(branchName);
   return baseBranchSha;
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/platform/gitlab/index.ts b/lib/platform/gitlab/index.ts
index cffbfa3c3b52166fa8a8a01430869662c832bef4..98f52c113e8c84305e5e3581d97f1520469c325c 100644
--- a/lib/platform/gitlab/index.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/gitlab/index.ts
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ export async function setBaseBranch(
 ): Promise<string> {
   logger.debug(`Setting baseBranch to ${branchName}`);
   config.baseBranch = branchName;
-  const baseBranchSha = await git.setBaseBranch(branchName);
+  const baseBranchSha = await git.setBranch(branchName);
   return baseBranchSha;
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/util/git/index.spec.ts b/lib/util/git/index.spec.ts
index 635fe2d2e97b5f05b4effb4a07c0b62f0db56ab4..f7c4e17687605d8ecbf4b87f66ca09fa3aaac7c8 100644
--- a/lib/util/git/index.spec.ts
+++ b/lib/util/git/index.spec.ts
@@ -69,13 +69,13 @@ describe('platform/git', () => {
 
   describe('setBaseBranch(branchName)', () => {
     it('sets the base branch as master', async () => {
-      await expect(git.setBaseBranch('master')).resolves.not.toThrow();
+      await expect(git.setBranch('master')).resolves.not.toThrow();
     });
     it('sets non-master base branch', async () => {
-      await expect(git.setBaseBranch('develop')).resolves.not.toThrow();
+      await expect(git.setBranch('develop')).resolves.not.toThrow();
     });
     it('should throw if branch does not exist', async () => {
-      await expect(git.setBaseBranch('not_found')).rejects.toMatchSnapshot();
+      await expect(git.setBranch('not_found')).rejects.toMatchSnapshot();
     });
   });
   describe('getFileList()', () => {
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ describe('platform/git', () => {
 
       expect(await git.getCommitMessages()).toMatchSnapshot();
 
-      await git.setBaseBranch('develop');
+      await git.setBranch('develop');
 
       await git.initRepo({
         localDir: tmpDir.path,
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ describe('platform/git', () => {
 
       expect(await git.branchExists('test')).toBeTruthy();
 
-      await git.setBaseBranch('test');
+      await git.setBranch('test');
 
       const msg = await git.getCommitMessages();
       expect(msg).toMatchSnapshot();
diff --git a/lib/util/git/index.ts b/lib/util/git/index.ts
index 91bc12731dcd70ff91c7e96d992015adee013c34..d80a0b5e4adfffac22b59a30a0f59ec0eaac333e 100644
--- a/lib/util/git/index.ts
+++ b/lib/util/git/index.ts
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ export type DiffResult = Git.DiffResult;
 
 interface StorageConfig {
   localDir: string;
-  baseBranch?: string;
+  currentBranch?: string;
   url: string;
   extraCloneOpts?: Git.Options;
   gitAuthorName?: string;
@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@ interface StorageConfig {
 }
 
 interface LocalConfig extends StorageConfig {
-  baseBranch: string;
-  baseBranchSha: string;
+  currentBranch: string;
+  currentBranchSha: string;
   branchExists: Record<string, boolean>;
   branchPrefix: string;
 }
@@ -66,11 +66,11 @@ function localName(branchName: string): string {
   return branchName.replace(/^origin\//, '');
 }
 
-function throwBaseBranchValidationError(branchName: string): never {
+function throwBranchValidationError(branchName: string): never {
   const error = new Error(CONFIG_VALIDATION);
-  error.validationError = 'baseBranch not found';
+  error.validationError = 'branch not found';
   error.validationMessage =
-    'The following configured baseBranch could not be found: ' + branchName;
+    'The following branch could not be found: ' + branchName;
   throw error;
 }
 
@@ -159,8 +159,9 @@ export async function syncGit(): Promise<void> {
       await git.raw(['remote', 'set-url', 'origin', config.url]);
       const fetchStart = Date.now();
       await git.fetch(['--depth=10']);
-      config.baseBranch = config.baseBranch || (await getDefaultBranch(git));
-      await resetToBranch(config.baseBranch);
+      config.currentBranch =
+        config.currentBranch || (await getDefaultBranch(git));
+      await resetToBranch(config.currentBranch);
       await cleanLocalBranches();
       await git.raw(['remote', 'prune', 'origin']);
       const durationMs = Math.round(Date.now() - fetchStart);
@@ -228,7 +229,7 @@ export async function syncGit(): Promise<void> {
     throw new Error(REPOSITORY_TEMPORARY_ERROR);
   }
 
-  config.baseBranch = config.baseBranch || (await getDefaultBranch(git));
+  config.currentBranch = config.currentBranch || (await getDefaultBranch(git));
 }
 
 export async function initRepo(args: StorageConfig): Promise<void> {
@@ -300,16 +301,16 @@ export async function getCommitMessages(): Promise<string[]> {
   return res.all.map((commit) => commit.message);
 }
 
-export async function setBaseBranch(branchName: string): Promise<string> {
+export async function setBranch(branchName: string): Promise<string> {
   if (branchName) {
     if (!(await branchExists(branchName))) {
-      throwBaseBranchValidationError(branchName);
+      throwBranchValidationError(branchName);
     }
-    logger.debug(`Setting baseBranch to ${branchName}`);
-    config.baseBranch = branchName;
+    logger.debug(`Setting current branch to ${branchName}`);
+    config.currentBranch = branchName;
     try {
       if (branchName !== 'master') {
-        config.baseBranchSha = (
+        config.currentBranchSha = (
           await git.raw(['rev-parse', 'origin/' + branchName])
         ).trim();
       }
@@ -325,13 +326,13 @@ export async function setBaseBranch(branchName: string): Promise<string> {
         ) ||
         err.message.includes('did not match any file(s) known to git')
       ) {
-        throwBaseBranchValidationError(branchName);
+        throwBranchValidationError(branchName);
       }
       throw err;
     }
   }
   return (
-    config.baseBranchSha ||
+    config.currentBranchSha ||
     (await git.raw(['rev-parse', 'origin/master'])).trim()
   );
 }
@@ -353,7 +354,7 @@ export async function setBranchPrefix(branchPrefix: string): Promise<void> {
 }
 
 export async function getFileList(): Promise<string[]> {
-  const branch = config.baseBranch;
+  const branch = config.currentBranch;
   const submodules = await getSubmodules();
   const files: string = await git.raw(['ls-tree', '-r', branch]);
   // istanbul ignore if
@@ -389,7 +390,7 @@ export async function isBranchStale(branchName: string): Promise<boolean> {
     '--remotes',
     '--verbose',
     '--contains',
-    config.baseBranchSha || `origin/${config.baseBranch}`,
+    config.currentBranchSha || `origin/${config.currentBranch}`,
   ]);
   return !branches.all.map(localName).includes(branchName);
 }
@@ -416,9 +417,9 @@ export async function deleteBranch(branchName: string): Promise<void> {
 export async function mergeBranch(branchName: string): Promise<void> {
   await git.reset('hard');
   await git.checkout(['-B', branchName, 'origin/' + branchName]);
-  await git.checkout(config.baseBranch);
+  await git.checkout(config.currentBranch);
   await git.merge(['--ff-only', branchName]);
-  await git.push('origin', config.baseBranch);
+  await git.push('origin', config.currentBranch);
   limits.incrementLimit('prCommitsPerRunLimit');
 }
 
@@ -436,7 +437,7 @@ export async function getBranchLastCommitTime(
 
 export async function getBranchFiles(branchName: string): Promise<string[]> {
   try {
-    const diff = await git.diffSummary([branchName, config.baseBranch]);
+    const diff = await git.diffSummary([branchName, config.currentBranch]);
     return diff.files.map((file) => file.file);
   } catch (err) /* istanbul ignore next */ {
     checkForPlatformFailure(err);
@@ -457,7 +458,7 @@ export async function getFile(
   }
   try {
     const content = await git.show([
-      'origin/' + (branchName || config.baseBranch) + ':' + filePath,
+      'origin/' + (branchName || config.currentBranch) + ':' + filePath,
     ]);
     return content;
   } catch (err) {
@@ -510,7 +511,7 @@ export async function commitFiles({
   try {
     await git.reset('hard');
     await git.raw(['clean', '-fd']);
-    await git.checkout(['-B', branchName, 'origin/' + config.baseBranch]);
+    await git.checkout(['-B', branchName, 'origin/' + config.currentBranch]);
     const fileNames = [];
     const deleted = [];
     for (const file of files) {