diff --git a/wsmaster/che-core-api-factory-gitlab/src/main/java/org/eclipse/che/api/factory/server/gitlab/GitlabUrl.java b/wsmaster/che-core-api-factory-gitlab/src/main/java/org/eclipse/che/api/factory/server/gitlab/GitlabUrl.java
index 057630821a..d00f86b3aa 100644
--- a/wsmaster/che-core-api-factory-gitlab/src/main/java/org/eclipse/che/api/factory/server/gitlab/GitlabUrl.java
+++ b/wsmaster/che-core-api-factory-gitlab/src/main/java/org/eclipse/che/api/factory/server/gitlab/GitlabUrl.java
@@ -11,10 +11,10 @@
  */
 package org.eclipse.che.api.factory.server.gitlab;
 
+import static com.google.common.base.Strings.isNullOrEmpty;
 import static java.net.URLEncoder.encode;
 
 import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
-import com.google.common.base.Strings;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Optional;
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ public class GitlabUrl extends DefaultFactoryUrl {
   }
 
   protected GitlabUrl withBranch(String branch) {
-    if (!Strings.isNullOrEmpty(branch)) {
+    if (!isNullOrEmpty(branch)) {
       this.branch = branch;
     }
     return this;
@@ -165,11 +165,8 @@ public class GitlabUrl extends DefaultFactoryUrl {
             .add("repository")
             .add("files")
             .add(encode(fileName, Charsets.UTF_8))
-            .add("raw")
+            .add("raw?ref=" + (isNullOrEmpty(branch) ? "HEAD" : branch))
             .toString();
-    if (branch != null) {
-      resultUrl = resultUrl + "?ref=" + branch;
-    }
 
     return resultUrl;
   }
diff --git a/wsmaster/che-core-api-factory-gitlab/src/test/java/org/eclipse/che/api/factory/server/gitlab/GitlabAuthorizingFileContentProviderTest.java b/wsmaster/che-core-api-factory-gitlab/src/test/java/org/eclipse/che/api/factory/server/gitlab/GitlabAuthorizingFileContentProviderTest.java
index 0c784206ac..6f32acdd50 100644
--- a/wsmaster/che-core-api-factory-gitlab/src/test/java/org/eclipse/che/api/factory/server/gitlab/GitlabAuthorizingFileContentProviderTest.java
+++ b/wsmaster/che-core-api-factory-gitlab/src/test/java/org/eclipse/che/api/factory/server/gitlab/GitlabAuthorizingFileContentProviderTest.java
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ public class GitlabAuthorizingFileContentProviderTest {
     verify(urlFetcher)
         .fetch(
             eq(
-                "https://gitlab.net/api/v4/projects/eclipse%2Fche/repository/files/devfile.yaml/raw"),
+                "https://gitlab.net/api/v4/projects/eclipse%2Fche/repository/files/devfile.yaml/raw?ref=HEAD"),
             eq("Bearer my-token"));
   }
 
diff --git a/wsmaster/che-core-api-factory-gitlab/src/test/java/org/eclipse/che/api/factory/server/gitlab/GitlabUrlTest.java b/wsmaster/che-core-api-factory-gitlab/src/test/java/org/eclipse/che/api/factory/server/gitlab/GitlabUrlTest.java
index e03e5b49f1..05eb66954a 100644
--- a/wsmaster/che-core-api-factory-gitlab/src/test/java/org/eclipse/che/api/factory/server/gitlab/GitlabUrlTest.java
+++ b/wsmaster/che-core-api-factory-gitlab/src/test/java/org/eclipse/che/api/factory/server/gitlab/GitlabUrlTest.java
@@ -71,11 +71,11 @@ public class GitlabUrlTest {
     return new Object[][] {
       {
         "https://gitlab.net/eclipse/che.git",
-        "https://gitlab.net/api/v4/projects/eclipse%%2Fche/repository/files/%s/raw"
+        "https://gitlab.net/api/v4/projects/eclipse%%2Fche/repository/files/%s/raw?ref=HEAD"
       },
       {
         "https://gitlab.net/eclipse/fooproj/che.git",
-        "https://gitlab.net/api/v4/projects/eclipse%%2Ffooproj%%2Fche/repository/files/%s/raw"
+        "https://gitlab.net/api/v4/projects/eclipse%%2Ffooproj%%2Fche/repository/files/%s/raw?ref=HEAD"
       },
       {
         "https://gitlab.net/eclipse/fooproj/-/tree/master/",