diff --git a/apps/server/src/git/Layers/GitCore.test.ts b/apps/server/src/git/Layers/GitCore.test.ts
index 2325f8e5f5d5bf7c2013e4f49606fe49601c32ae..2667c7aaa1732d41ee5e8127c33322d0573eb1da 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/git/Layers/GitCore.test.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/git/Layers/GitCore.test.ts
@@ -266,6 +266,18 @@ it.layer(TestLayer)("git integration", (it) => {
       }),
     );
 
+    it.effect("does not include detached HEAD pseudo-refs as branches", () =>
+      Effect.gen(function* () {
+        const tmp = yield* makeTmpDir();
+        yield* initRepoWithCommit(tmp);
+        yield* git(tmp, ["checkout", "--detach", "HEAD"]);
+
+        const result = yield* listGitBranches({ cwd: tmp });
+        expect(result.branches.some((branch) => branch.name.startsWith("("))).toBe(false);
+        expect(result.branches.some((branch) => branch.current)).toBe(false);
+      }),
+    );
+
     it.effect("keeps current branch first and sorts the remaining branches by recency", () =>
       Effect.gen(function* () {
         const tmp = yield* makeTmpDir();
diff --git a/apps/server/src/git/Layers/GitCore.ts b/apps/server/src/git/Layers/GitCore.ts
index 76968fcded808bc1cec98bea1fc052c409cd74f9..d3b7fc567bec80dbf64d8668cb2cff195f5532fe 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/git/Layers/GitCore.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/git/Layers/GitCore.ts
@@ -82,7 +82,8 @@ function parseBranchLine(line: string): { name: string; current: boolean } | nul
 
   const name = trimmed.replace(/^[*+]\s+/, "");
   // Exclude symbolic refs like: "origin/HEAD -> origin/main".
-  if (name.includes(" -> ")) return null;
+  // Exclude detached HEAD pseudo-refs like: "(HEAD detached at origin/main)".
+  if (name.includes(" -> ") || name.startsWith("(")) return null;
 
   return {
     name,