diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/utils/github.rb b/Library/Homebrew/utils/github.rb
index 41335cbe62..f7eef01068 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/utils/github.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/utils/github.rb
@@ -80,6 +80,13 @@ module GitHub
     ["admin", "write"].include?(permission(repo, user)["permission"])
   end
 
+  def branch_exists?(user, repo, branch)
+    API.open_rest("#{API_URL}/repos/#{user}/#{repo}/branches/#{branch}")
+    true
+  rescue API::HTTPNotFoundError
+    false
+  end
+
   def pull_requests(repo, **options)
     url = "#{API_URL}/repos/#{repo}/pulls?#{URI.encode_www_form(options)}"
     API.open_rest(url)