diff --git a/crates/radicle/src/git/canonical/rules.rs b/crates/radicle/src/git/canonical/rules.rs
index ca9353b0..e99a6efd 100644
--- a/crates/radicle/src/git/canonical/rules.rs
+++ b/crates/radicle/src/git/canonical/rules.rs
@@ -81,6 +81,13 @@ impl<'a> TryFrom<Qualified<'a>> for Pattern {
 }
 
 impl Pattern {
+    /// Construct a [`Pattern`] that matches a branch exactly.
+    ///
+    /// The resulting [`Pattern`] will match `refs/heads/<name>`.
+    pub fn refs_heads_exact(name: &git::fmt::RefStr) -> Self {
+        Self(QualifiedPattern::from(git::refs::branch(name)))
+    }
+
     /// Check if the `refname` matches the rule's `refspec`.
     pub fn matches(&self, refname: &Qualified) -> bool {
         // N.b. Git's refspecs do not quite match with glob-star semantics. A
diff --git a/crates/radicle/src/identity/doc.rs b/crates/radicle/src/identity/doc.rs
index 22b304e3..74fca7ed 100644
--- a/crates/radicle/src/identity/doc.rs
+++ b/crates/radicle/src/identity/doc.rs
@@ -76,8 +76,6 @@ impl DocError {
 
 #[derive(Debug, Error)]
 pub enum DefaultBranchRuleError {
-    #[error("could not create rule due to the reference name being invalid: {0}")]
-    Pattern(#[from] rules::PatternError),
     #[error("could not load `xyz.radicle.project` to get default branch name: {0}")]
     Payload(#[from] PayloadError),
 }
@@ -746,7 +744,7 @@ impl Doc {
     pub fn default_branch_rule(
         &self,
     ) -> Result<(rules::Pattern, rules::ValidRule), DefaultBranchRuleError> {
-        let pattern = rules::Pattern::try_from(self.default_branch()?.to_owned())?;
+        let pattern = rules::Pattern::refs_heads_exact(self.project()?.default_branch());
         let rule = rules::Rule::new(
             rules::ResolvedDelegates::Delegates(self.delegates.clone()),
             self.threshold,