diff --git a/libs/community/langchain_community/document_loaders/github.py b/libs/community/langchain_community/document_loaders/github.py
index ee647d42401..df02a7894fb 100644
--- a/libs/community/langchain_community/document_loaders/github.py
+++ b/libs/community/langchain_community/document_loaders/github.py
@@ -206,7 +206,10 @@ class GithubFileLoader(BaseGitHubLoader, ABC):
         ]
 
     def get_file_content_by_path(self, path: str) -> str:
-        base_url = f"{self.github_api_url}/repos/{self.repo}/contents/{path}"
+        queryparams = f"?ref={self.branch}" if self.branch else ""
+        base_url = (
+            f"{self.github_api_url}/repos/{self.repo}/contents/{path}{queryparams}"
+        )
         response = requests.get(base_url, headers=self.headers)
         response.raise_for_status()