diff --git a/apps/server/src/git/Layers/GitCore.test.ts b/apps/server/src/git/Layers/GitCore.test.ts
index 7e6a7c6c0941de915f5a4d79035e92c3acf597f5..5f76ec22f0cb9424f8136dee70be38b8bcbd4d7f 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/git/Layers/GitCore.test.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/git/Layers/GitCore.test.ts
@@ -1161,6 +1161,32 @@ it.layer(TestLayer)("git integration", (it) => {
       }),
     );
 
+    it.effect(
+      "computes ahead count against origin/default when local default branch is missing",
+      () =>
+        Effect.gen(function* () {
+          const remote = yield* makeTmpDir();
+          const source = yield* makeTmpDir();
+          yield* git(remote, ["init", "--bare"]);
+
+          yield* initRepoWithCommit(source);
+          yield* git(source, ["remote", "add", "origin", remote]);
+          yield* git(source, ["push", "-u", "origin", "main"]);
+          yield* git(source, ["checkout", "-b", "feature/remote-base-only"]);
+          yield* writeTextFile(path.join(source, "feature.txt"), "ahead of origin/main\n");
+          yield* git(source, ["add", "feature.txt"]);
+          yield* git(source, ["commit", "-m", "feature commit"]);
+          yield* git(source, ["branch", "-D", "main"]);
+
+          const core = yield* GitCore;
+          const details = yield* core.statusDetails(source);
+          expect(details.branch).toBe("feature/remote-base-only");
+          expect(details.hasUpstream).toBe(false);
+          expect(details.aheadCount).toBe(1);
+          expect(details.behindCount).toBe(0);
+        }),
+    );
+
     it.effect("skips push when no upstream is configured and branch is not ahead of base", () =>
       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 570b214fbbc2f0396c15e25d8852481efd10b1ca..e362765758b590074882227dcf788ef40ab0b413 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/git/Layers/GitCore.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/git/Layers/GitCore.ts
@@ -368,6 +368,19 @@ const makeGitCore = Effect.gen(function* () {
       allowNonZeroExit: true,
     }).pipe(Effect.map((result) => result.code === 0));
 
+  const remoteBranchExists = (
+    cwd: string,
+    branch: string,
+  ): Effect.Effect<boolean, GitCommandError> =>
+    executeGit(
+      "GitCore.remoteBranchExists",
+      cwd,
+      ["show-ref", "--verify", "--quiet", `refs/remotes/origin/${branch}`],
+      {
+        allowNonZeroExit: true,
+      },
+    ).pipe(Effect.map((result) => result.code === 0));
+
   const resolveBaseBranchForNoUpstream = (
     cwd: string,
     branch: string,
@@ -388,12 +401,23 @@ const makeGitCore = Effect.gen(function* () {
       ];
 
       for (const candidate of candidates) {
-        if (!candidate || candidate === branch) {
+        if (!candidate) {
           continue;
         }
 
-        if (yield* branchExists(cwd, candidate)) {
-          return candidate;
+        const normalizedCandidate = candidate.startsWith("origin/")
+          ? candidate.slice("origin/".length)
+          : candidate;
+        if (normalizedCandidate.length === 0 || normalizedCandidate === branch) {
+          continue;
+        }
+
+        if (yield* branchExists(cwd, normalizedCandidate)) {
+          return normalizedCandidate;
+        }
+
+        if (yield* remoteBranchExists(cwd, normalizedCandidate)) {
+          return `origin/${normalizedCandidate}`;
         }
       }