diff --git a/buildozer/targets/android.py b/buildozer/targets/android.py
index 62f0eeb..4b8ef13 100644
--- a/buildozer/targets/android.py
+++ b/buildozer/targets/android.py
@@ -485,10 +485,14 @@ class TargetAndroid(Target):
                     cwd=self.buildozer.platform_dir)
             elif self.platform_update:
                 cmd('git clean -dxf', cwd=pa_dir)
-                cmd('git pull origin {}'.format(source), cwd=pa_dir)
-
-        if source:
-            cmd('git checkout {branch}'.format(branch=source), cwd=pa_dir)
+                current_branch = cmd('git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD',
+                                     get_stdout=True, cwd=pa_dir)[0].strip()
+                if current_branch == source:
+                    cmd('git pull', cwd=pa_dir)
+                else:
+                    cmd('git fetch --tags origin {0}:{0}'.format(source),
+                        cwd=pa_dir)
+                    cmd('git checkout {}'.format(source), cwd=pa_dir)
 
         self._install_apache_ant()
         self._install_android_sdk()