diff --git a/lib/git/base.rb b/lib/git/base.rb
index dd9b6bb7..10dd5858 100644
--- a/lib/git/base.rb
+++ b/lib/git/base.rb
@@ -333,8 +333,9 @@ def each_conflict(&block) # :yields: file, your_version, their_version
 
     # fetches a branch from a remote and merges it into the current working branch
     def pull(remote = 'origin', branch = 'master', message = 'origin pull')
+      remote_branch
       fetch(remote)
-      merge(branch, message)
+      merge("remotes/#{remote}/#{branch}", message)
     end
     
     # returns an array of Git:Remote objects