diff --git a/taf/git.py b/taf/git.py
index bfa92c08..091f4bb4 100644
--- a/taf/git.py
+++ b/taf/git.py
@@ -946,6 +946,7 @@ def find_first_branch_matching_pattern(
         traverse_branch_name: str,
         pattern_func: Callable[[str], bool],
         include_remotes: bool = False,
+        sort_key_func: Optional[Callable[[str], bool]]=None,
     ) -> Tuple[Optional[str], List[str]]:
         branch_tips = {}
         repo = self.pygit_repo
@@ -958,20 +959,31 @@ def find_first_branch_matching_pattern(
         else:
             raise GitError(f"Branch {traverse_branch_name} does not exist")
 
-        branches = repo.branches if include_remotes else repo.branches.local
+        branches = self.branches(all=include_remotes)
         all_branch_names = []
+
         for branch_name in branches:
-            if pattern_func(branch_name):
+            stripped_name = self._remove_remote_prefix(branch_name)
+            if stripped_name in all_branch_names:
+                continue
+            if pattern_func(stripped_name):
                 branch = repo.lookup_branch(branch_name)
-                branch_tips[branch_name] = branch.peel().hex
-            all_branch_names.append(branch_name)
-
+                try:
+                    branch_tips[stripped_name] = branch.peel().hex
+                except Exception:
+                    ref = repo.references[f"refs/remotes/{branch_name}"]
+                    commit = ref.peel(pygit2.Commit)
+                    branch_tips[stripped_name] = commit.hex
+            all_branch_names.append(stripped_name)
+
+        if sort_key_func is not None:
+            all_branch_names = sorted(all_branch_names, key=sort_key_func, reverse=True)
         # Iterate over commits from newest to oldest
         if len(branch_tips):
-            for commit in repo.walk(branch_target, pygit2.GIT_SORT_TIME):
-                # Check if commit is in any of the pre-filtered branches
-                for branch_name, tip_hex in branch_tips.items():
-                    if commit.hex == tip_hex or repo.descendant_of(tip_hex, commit.hex):
+            for commit in repo.walk(branch_target):
+                for branch_name in all_branch_names:
+                    tip_hex = branch_tips.get(branch_name)
+                    if tip_hex is not None and (commit.hex == tip_hex or repo.descendant_of(tip_hex, commit.hex)):
                         return branch_name, []
         return None, all_branch_names
 
@@ -1374,6 +1386,15 @@ def _determine_default_branch(self) -> Optional[str]:
         )
         return None
 
+    def _remove_remote_prefix(self, branch_name):
+        for remote in self.remotes:
+            prefix = f"{remote}/"
+            if branch_name.startswith(prefix):
+                return branch_name[len(prefix):]
+            return branch_name
+        return branch_name
+
+
     def _validate_repo_name(self, name: str) -> str:
         """Ensure the repo name is not malicious"""
         match = _repo_name_re.match(name)