diff --git a/dev-tools/scripts/reproduceJenkinsFailures.py b/dev-tools/scripts/reproduceJenkinsFailures.py
index 70f0c43fbde..edfe2d4570e 100644
--- a/dev-tools/scripts/reproduceJenkinsFailures.py
+++ b/dev-tools/scripts/reproduceJenkinsFailures.py
@@ -158,7 +158,11 @@ def prepareWorkspace(useGit, gitRef):
     checkoutCmd = 'git checkout %s' % gitRef
     code = run(checkoutCmd)
     if 0 != code:
-      raise RuntimeError('ERROR: "%s" failed.  See above.' % checkoutCmd)
+      checkoutBranchCmd = 'git checkout -t -b %s origin/%s' % (gitRef, gitRef) # Checkout remote branch as new local branch
+      print('"%s" failed. Trying "%s".' % (checkoutCmd, checkoutBranchCmd))
+      code = run(checkoutBranchCmd)
+      if 0 != code:
+        raise RuntimeError('ERROR: "%s" failed.  See above.' % checkoutBranchCmd)
     gitCheckoutSucceeded = True
     run('git merge --ff-only', rememberFailure=False) # Ignore failure on non-branch ref