diff --git a/taf/auth_repo.py b/taf/auth_repo.py
index 6cad6f17..a2d2ef79 100644
--- a/taf/auth_repo.py
+++ b/taf/auth_repo.py
@@ -184,25 +184,23 @@ def commit_and_push(
         if commit:
             if commit_msg is None:
                 commit_msg = input("\nEnter commit message and press ENTER\n\n")
-            self.commit(commit_msg)
-
-        if push:
-            push_successful = self.push()
-            if push_successful:
-                new_commit_branch = self.default_branch
-                if new_commit_branch:
-                    new_commit = self.top_commit_of_branch(new_commit_branch)
-                    if new_commit:
+            new_commit = self.commit(commit_msg)
+
+            if new_commit and push:
+                push_successful = self.push()
+                if push_successful:
+                    current_branch = self.get_current_branch()
+                    if current_branch == self.default_branch:
                         self.set_last_validated_of_repo(
                             self.name, new_commit, set_last_validated_commit=True
                         )
                         self._log_notice(
                             f"Updated last_validated_commit to {new_commit}"
                         )
-                else:
-                    self._log_warning(
-                        "Default branch is None, skipping last_validated_commit update."
-                    )
+                    else:
+                        self._log_warning(
+                            "Default branch is None, skipping last_validated_commit update."
+                        )
 
     def get_target(self, target_name, commit=None, safely=True) -> Optional[Dict]:
         if commit is None:
@@ -335,7 +333,10 @@ def auth_repo_commits_after_repos_last_validated(
 
         repo = self.pygit_repo
 
-        walker = repo.walk(repo.head.target, pygit2.GIT_SORT_TOPOLOGICAL)
+        default_branch = repo.lookup_branch(self.default_branch)
+        top_commit = default_branch.peel()
+
+        walker = repo.walk(top_commit.id, pygit2.GIT_SORT_TOPOLOGICAL)
 
         traversed_commits = []
         for commit in walker:
diff --git a/taf/updater/updater.py b/taf/updater/updater.py
index a92a60d4..2650e22a 100644
--- a/taf/updater/updater.py
+++ b/taf/updater/updater.py
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 from typing import Dict, Tuple, Any
 from attr import define, field
 from logdecorator import log_on_error
+from taf.auth_repo import AuthenticationRepository
 from taf.git import GitRepository
 from taf.updater.types.update import OperationType, UpdateType
 from taf.updater.updater_pipeline import (
@@ -636,11 +637,11 @@ def validate_repository(
     else:
         library_dir = Path(library_dir).resolve()
 
+    auth_repo = AuthenticationRepository(path=auth_path)
     expected_repo_type = (
-        UpdateType.TEST
-        if (auth_path / "targets" / "test-auth-repo").exists()
-        else UpdateType.OFFICIAL
+        UpdateType.TEST if auth_repo.is_test_repo else UpdateType.OFFICIAL
     )
+
     auth_repo_name = None
 
     try:
diff --git a/taf/updater/updater_pipeline.py b/taf/updater/updater_pipeline.py
index c4218d13..66e114f3 100644
--- a/taf/updater/updater_pipeline.py
+++ b/taf/updater/updater_pipeline.py
@@ -1065,10 +1065,13 @@ def set_auth_commit_for_target_repos(self):
             repo_name: self._get_last_validated_commit(repo_name)
             for repo_name in self.state.users_target_repositories
         }
+        last_commits_per_repos[
+            self.state.users_auth_repo.name
+        ] = self._get_last_validated_commit(self.state.users_auth_repo.name)
 
-        last_validated_target_commits = list(set(last_commits_per_repos.values()))
+        last_validated_commits = list(set(last_commits_per_repos.values()))
 
-        if len(last_validated_target_commits) > 1:
+        if len(last_validated_commits) > 1:
             # not all target repositories were updated at the same time
             # updater was run with --exclude-targets
             # check if the repositories are in sync according to that data
@@ -2118,6 +2121,7 @@ def _update_tuf_current_revision(git_fetcher, updater, auth_repo_name):
         # using refresh, we have updated all main roles
         # we still need to update the delegated roles (if there are any)
         # and validate any target files
+
         current_targets = git_fetcher.get_current_targets()
         for target_path in current_targets:
             target_filepath = target_path.replace("\\", "/")