diff --git a/nf_core/pipelines/create/create.py b/nf_core/pipelines/create/create.py
index 8fbb04908..c102441c3 100644
--- a/nf_core/pipelines/create/create.py
+++ b/nf_core/pipelines/create/create.py
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ def __init__(
         template_config: Optional[Union[CreateConfig, str, Path]] = None,
         organisation: str = "nf-core",
         from_config_file: bool = False,
-        default_branch: Optional[str] = None,
+        default_branch: str = "main",
         is_interactive: bool = False,
     ) -> None:
         if isinstance(template_config, CreateConfig):
@@ -431,7 +431,7 @@ def get_default_branch(self) -> None:
             )  # default to main
         except configparser.Error:
             log.debug("Could not read init.defaultBranch")
-        if self.default_branch is not None and self.default_branch in ["dev", "TEMPLATE"]:
+        if self.default_branch in ["dev", "TEMPLATE"]:
             raise UserWarning(
                 f"Your Git defaultBranch '{self.default_branch}' is incompatible with nf-core.\n"
                 "'dev' and 'TEMPLATE' can not be used as default branch name.\n"