diff --git a/lib/config/presets/azure/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap b/lib/config/presets/azure/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap
index c9758c77a590f428bbe0c93f90ce73d64ac07364..862395350f37781667eb487584c1ab3ebc16e192 100644
--- a/lib/config/presets/azure/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap
+++ b/lib/config/presets/azure/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap
@@ -5,6 +5,13 @@ Array [
   Array [
     "123456",
     "some-filename.json",
+    undefined,
+    undefined,
+    undefined,
+    undefined,
+    undefined,
+    undefined,
+    undefined,
   ],
 ]
 `;
diff --git a/lib/platform/azure/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap b/lib/platform/azure/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap
index 1a4ccf8fe171985247f0751fcf7aacd8f0cd03ab..e40a8dc126c859020ac58cb8115ab5c39a53e80f 100644
--- a/lib/platform/azure/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap
+++ b/lib/platform/azure/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap
@@ -206,6 +206,13 @@ Array [
   Array [
     "123456",
     "file.json",
+    undefined,
+    undefined,
+    undefined,
+    undefined,
+    undefined,
+    undefined,
+    undefined,
   ],
 ]
 `;
diff --git a/lib/platform/azure/index.spec.ts b/lib/platform/azure/index.spec.ts
index f9946440b64becf237bf0b0c11054f8b2ffba608..29b8a88a8abf29a9aba01029cbaefb7cb214b409 100644
--- a/lib/platform/azure/index.spec.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/azure/index.spec.ts
@@ -1265,7 +1265,7 @@ describe('platform/azure/index', () => {
       expect(res).toEqual({ foo: 'bar' });
     });
 
-    it('ignores branchOrTag', async () => {
+    it('returns file content from branch or tag', async () => {
       const data = { foo: 'bar' };
       azureApi.gitApi.mockImplementationOnce(
         () =>
diff --git a/lib/platform/azure/index.ts b/lib/platform/azure/index.ts
index 1b340395f2739aa727cc5fecc5ae78ec5d2df60c..231cc0558d12ab337362e08af2800de46ac845e9 100644
--- a/lib/platform/azure/index.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/azure/index.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import {
   GitPullRequestMergeStrategy,
   GitStatus,
   GitStatusState,
+  GitVersionDescriptor,
   PullRequestStatus,
 } from 'azure-devops-node-api/interfaces/GitInterfaces';
 import delay from 'delay';
@@ -127,7 +128,22 @@ export async function getRawFile(
     repoId = config.repoId;
   }
 
-  const buf = await azureApiGit.getItemContent(repoId, fileName);
+  const versionDescriptor: GitVersionDescriptor = {
+    version: branchOrTag,
+  } as GitVersionDescriptor;
+
+  const buf = await azureApiGit.getItemContent(
+    repoId,
+    fileName,
+    undefined,
+    undefined,
+    undefined,
+    undefined,
+    undefined,
+    undefined,
+    branchOrTag ? versionDescriptor : undefined
+  );
+
   const str = await streamToString(buf);
   return str;
 }