diff --git a/cmd/root.go b/cmd/root.go
index d686d59f..f0ea4549 100644
--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@@ -54,6 +54,10 @@ func init() {
 	asyncHelp := "sets the number of applications to be processed in parallel\nthe default (0) is no limit"
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().IntVarP(&asyncLevel, "async", "a", 0, asyncHelp)
 
+	smartModeBaseRevisionHelp := "base revision to compare against in Smart Mode\n" +
+		"if not provided, only local changes will be considered"
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().String("smart-mode.base-revision", "", smartModeBaseRevisionHelp)
+
 	if err := viper.BindPFlags(rootCmd.PersistentFlags()); err != nil {
 		log.Fatal().Err(err).Msg("Unable to bind flags")
 	}
@@ -82,7 +86,7 @@ func detectTargetEnvsAndApps(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) (err error) {
 		// smart mode requires instantiation of globe object to get the list of environments
 		// the globe object will not be used later in the process. It is only used to get the list of all environments and their apps.
 		globeAllEnvsAndApps := myks.New(".")
-		targetEnvironments, targetApplications, err = globeAllEnvsAndApps.DetectChangedEnvsAndApps()
+		targetEnvironments, targetApplications, err = globeAllEnvsAndApps.DetectChangedEnvsAndApps(viper.GetString("smart-mode.base-revision"))
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Warn().Err(err).Msg("Unable to run Smart Mode. Rendering everything.")
 		}
diff --git a/internal/myks/git.go b/internal/myks/git.go
deleted file mode 100644
index cb087cf5..00000000
--- a/internal/myks/git.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,93 +0,0 @@
-package myks
-
-import (
-	"fmt"
-	"os"
-	"regexp"
-	"strings"
-
-	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
-)
-
-type ChangedFiles map[string]string
-
-// getChangedFiles returns list of files changed sinc the revision, if specified, and since the last commit
-func getChangedFiles(revision string) (ChangedFiles, error) {
-	logFn := func(name string, args []string) {
-		log.Debug().Msg(msgRunCmd("get diff for smart-mode", name, args))
-	}
-
-	files := ChangedFiles{}
-	if revision != "" {
-		result, err := runCmd("git", nil, []string{"diff", "--name-status", revision}, logFn)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
-		for path, status := range convertToChangedFiles(result.Stdout) {
-			files[path] = status
-		}
-	}
-
-	result, err := runCmd("git", nil, []string{"status", "--porcelain"}, logFn)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	for path, status := range convertToChangedFiles(result.Stdout) {
-		files[path] = status
-	}
-
-	return files, nil
-}
-
-func convertToChangedFiles(changes string) ChangedFiles {
-	cfs := ChangedFiles{}
-	expr := regexp.MustCompile(`^([A-Z]\t|[A-Z? ]{2} )(.*)$`)
-	for _, str := range strings.Split(changes, "\n") {
-		matches := expr.FindStringSubmatch(str)
-		if len(matches) == 3 {
-			// 1: the first character of the status, after trimming spaces and tabs
-			// 2: the file path
-			cfs[matches[2]] = strings.Trim(matches[1], " \t")[:1]
-		}
-	}
-	return cfs
-}
-
-// get head revision of main branch
-func getMainBranchHeadRevision(mainBranch string) (string, error) {
-	logFn := func(name string, args []string) {
-		log.Debug().Msg(msgRunCmd("get main branch head revision for smart-mode", name, args))
-	}
-	_, err := runCmd("git", nil, []string{"fetch", "origin", mainBranch}, logFn)
-	if err != nil {
-		return "", err
-	}
-	cmdResult, err := runCmd("git", nil, []string{"merge-base", "origin/" + mainBranch, "HEAD"}, logFn)
-	if err != nil {
-		return "", err
-	}
-	// git adds new line to output which messes up the result
-	headRevision := strings.TrimRight(cmdResult.Stdout, "\n")
-	return headRevision, nil
-}
-
-// get head revision
-func getCurrentBranchHeadRevision() (string, error) {
-	logFn := func(name string, args []string) {
-		log.Debug().Msg(msgRunCmd("get current head revision for smart-mode", name, args))
-	}
-	cmdResult, err := runCmd("git", nil, []string{"rev-parse", "HEAD"}, logFn)
-	if err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to get current branch head revision: %v", err)
-	}
-	return strings.TrimRight(cmdResult.Stdout, "\n"), nil
-}
-
-func getDiffRevision(mainBranch string) (string, error) {
-	if os.Getenv("CI") != "" {
-		log.Debug().Msg("Pipeline mode: comparing with HEAD revision on main")
-		return getMainBranchHeadRevision(mainBranch)
-	}
-	log.Debug().Msg("Local mode: comparing with HEAD revision on current branch")
-	return getCurrentBranchHeadRevision()
-}
diff --git a/internal/myks/globe.go b/internal/myks/globe.go
index 2b81ac42..bedede48 100644
--- a/internal/myks/globe.go
+++ b/internal/myks/globe.go
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ type Globe struct {
 
 	// Base directory for environments
 	EnvironmentBaseDir string `default:"envs"`
+	// Main branch name
+	MainBranchName string `default:"main"`
 	// Prefix for kubernetes namespaces
 	NamespacePrefix string `default:""`
 	// Application prototypes directory
@@ -68,8 +70,6 @@ type Globe struct {
 	YttPkgStepDirName string `default:"ytt-pkg"`
 	// Ytt step directory name
 	YttStepDirName string `default:"ytt"`
-	// Main branch name
-	MainBranchName string `default:"main"`
 
 	/// User input
 
diff --git a/internal/myks/smart_mode.go b/internal/myks/smart_mode.go
index 23eff14b..22576524 100644
--- a/internal/myks/smart_mode.go
+++ b/internal/myks/smart_mode.go
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ func (g *Globe) getAppsExpr() string {
 	return "^" + g.GitPathPrefix + "(" + g.EnvironmentBaseDir + "/.*?)/_apps/(.*?)/.*$"
 }
 
-func (g *Globe) DetectChangedEnvsAndApps() ([]string, []string, error) {
+func (g *Globe) DetectChangedEnvsAndApps(baseRevision string) ([]string, []string, error) {
 	g.collectEnvironments(nil)
 
 	err := process(0, g.environments, func(item interface{}) error {
@@ -55,12 +55,7 @@ func (g *Globe) DetectChangedEnvsAndApps() ([]string, []string, error) {
 		return nil, nil, err
 	}
 
-	curRev, err := getDiffRevision(g.MainBranchName)
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Err(err).Msg(g.Msg("Failed to get current revision"))
-		return nil, nil, err
-	}
-	changedFiles, err := getChangedFiles(curRev)
+	changedFiles, err := getChangedFiles(baseRevision)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Err(err).Msg(g.Msg("Failed to get diff"))
 		return nil, nil, err
diff --git a/internal/myks/smart_mode_git.go b/internal/myks/smart_mode_git.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9082cb45
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/myks/smart_mode_git.go
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+package myks
+
+import (
+	"regexp"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
+)
+
+type ChangedFiles map[string]string
+
+// getChangedFiles returns list of files changed since the baseRevision, if specified, and since the last commit
+func getChangedFiles(baseRevision string) (ChangedFiles, error) {
+	logFn := func(name string, args []string) {
+		log.Debug().Msg(msgRunCmd("collect changed files for smart-mode", name, args))
+	}
+
+	files := ChangedFiles{}
+	if baseRevision != "" {
+		result, err := runCmd("git", nil, []string{"diff", "--name-status", baseRevision}, logFn)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		for path, status := range convertToChangedFiles(result.Stdout) {
+			files[path] = status
+		}
+	}
+
+	result, err := runCmd("git", nil, []string{"status", "--porcelain"}, logFn)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	for path, status := range convertToChangedFiles(result.Stdout) {
+		files[path] = status
+	}
+
+	return files, nil
+}
+
+func convertToChangedFiles(changes string) ChangedFiles {
+	cfs := ChangedFiles{}
+	expr := regexp.MustCompile(`^([A-Z]\t|[A-Z? ]{2} )(.*)$`)
+	for _, str := range strings.Split(changes, "\n") {
+		matches := expr.FindStringSubmatch(str)
+		if len(matches) == 3 {
+			// 1: the first character of the status, after trimming spaces and tabs
+			// 2: the file path
+			cfs[matches[2]] = strings.Trim(matches[1], " \t")[:1]
+		}
+	}
+	return cfs
+}
diff --git a/internal/myks/git_test.go b/internal/myks/smart_mode_git_test.go
similarity index 58%
rename from internal/myks/git_test.go
rename to internal/myks/smart_mode_git_test.go
index 902e78e8..91bbed4f 100644
--- a/internal/myks/git_test.go
+++ b/internal/myks/smart_mode_git_test.go
@@ -28,53 +28,6 @@ func Test_getChangedFiles(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func Test_getMainBranchHeadRevision(t *testing.T) {
-	type args struct {
-		mainBranch string
-	}
-	tests := []struct {
-		name    string
-		args    args
-		wantErr bool
-	}{
-		{"happy path", args{"main"}, false},
-		{"sad path", args{"unknown-branch"}, true},
-	}
-	for _, tt := range tests {
-		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
-			got, err := getMainBranchHeadRevision(tt.args.mainBranch)
-			if (err != nil) != tt.wantErr {
-				t.Errorf("getMainBranchHeadRevision() error = %v, wantErr %v", err, tt.wantErr)
-				return
-			}
-			if !tt.wantErr && got == "" {
-				t.Errorf("getMainBranchHeadRevision() must not be empty")
-			}
-		})
-	}
-}
-
-func Test_getCurrentBranchHeadRevision(t *testing.T) {
-	tests := []struct {
-		name    string
-		wantErr bool
-	}{
-		{"happy path", false},
-	}
-	for _, tt := range tests {
-		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
-			got, err := getCurrentBranchHeadRevision()
-			if (err != nil) != tt.wantErr {
-				t.Errorf("getCurrentBranchHeadRevision() error = %v, wantErr %v", err, tt.wantErr)
-				return
-			}
-			if !tt.wantErr && got == "" {
-				t.Errorf("getCurrentBranchHeadRevision() must not be empty")
-			}
-		})
-	}
-}
-
 func Test_convertToChangedFiles(t *testing.T) {
 	type args struct {
 		changes string