diff --git a/examples/example_utils.sh b/examples/example_utils.sh
index ef4aa473927b021d394c733eb1fe69853482c150..328190e3232dad28637206c2b8906ee650de2e86 100644
--- a/examples/example_utils.sh
+++ b/examples/example_utils.sh
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ function configure_and_install_autosubmit() {
 function setup_project() {
   local EXPID=$1
   PROJECT_ORIGIN="https://gitlab.physik.uni-muenchen.de/w2w/autoicon.git"
-  PROJECT_BRANCH="master"
+  : ${PROJECT_BRANCH:="master"}
 
   # If experiment directory doesn't exist, create it and set up the experiment
   if [ ! -e autosubmit/$EXPID/ ]; then