diff --git a/.github/workflows/protect-file.yml b/.github/workflows/protect-file.yml
index 645d6c0e9ea4..809a9f2a6096 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/protect-file.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/protect-file.yml
@@ -28,11 +28,8 @@ jobs:
           echo "Starting file check step"
           base_ref=$(echo "${GITHUB_CONTEXT}" | jq -r ".base_ref")
           echo "Base branch reference extracted: ${base_ref}"
-          protected_file="src/sonic-config-engine/minigraph.py"
-          git fetch origin $base_ref  # Fetch the base branch to ensure it's up-to-date
-          base_branch=$(git rev-parse origin/$base_ref)
-          echo "Base branch SHA: $base_branch"
-          echo "Running git diff check"
+          protected_file='src/sonic-config-engine/minigraph.py'
+          base_branch=$(git rev-parse origin/${base_ref})
           if git diff --name-only $base_branch | grep -q "^${protected_file}\$"; then
               echo "Error: You are trying to modify ${protected_file}, which is protected."
               exit 1