diff --git a/Tools/px_update_git_header.py b/Tools/px_update_git_header.py
index 366a69020a..47e31de09f 100755
--- a/Tools/px_update_git_header.py
+++ b/Tools/px_update_git_header.py
@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@ git_tag = subprocess.check_output('git describe --always --tags'.split(),
                                   stderr=subprocess.STDOUT).decode('utf-8').strip()
 git_version = subprocess.check_output('git rev-parse --verify HEAD'.split(),
                                       stderr=subprocess.STDOUT).decode('utf-8').strip()
+try:
+    git_branch_name = subprocess.check_output('git symbolic-ref -q --short HEAD'.split(),
+                                          stderr=subprocess.STDOUT).decode('utf-8').strip()
+except:
+    git_branch_name = ''
 git_version_short = git_version[0:16]
 nuttx_git_tag = subprocess.check_output('git describe --always --tags'.split(),
                                   cwd='NuttX/nuttx', stderr=subprocess.STDOUT).decode('utf-8').strip().replace("nuttx-","v")
@@ -36,14 +41,18 @@ header = """
 #define PX4_GIT_VERSION_STR  "{git_version}"
 #define PX4_GIT_VERSION_BINARY 0x{git_version_short}
 #define PX4_GIT_TAG_STR  "{git_tag}"
+#define PX4_GIT_BRANCH_NAME  "{git_branch_name}"
+
 #define NUTTX_GIT_VERSION_STR  "{nuttx_git_version}"
 #define NUTTX_GIT_VERSION_BINARY 0x{nuttx_git_version_short}
 #define NUTTX_GIT_TAG_STR  "{nuttx_git_tag}"
+
 #define MAVLINK_LIB_GIT_VERSION_STR  "{mavlink_git_version}"
 #define MAVLINK_LIB_GIT_VERSION_BINARY 0x{mavlink_git_version_short}
 """.format(git_tag=git_tag,
            git_version=git_version,
            git_version_short=git_version_short,
+           git_branch_name=git_branch_name,
            nuttx_git_version=nuttx_git_version,
            nuttx_git_version_short=nuttx_git_version_short,
            nuttx_git_tag=nuttx_git_tag,
diff --git a/src/lib/version/version.c b/src/lib/version/version.c
index 836cca3ebf..347e1a9a1d 100644
--- a/src/lib/version/version.c
+++ b/src/lib/version/version.c
@@ -156,6 +156,11 @@ uint32_t px4_firmware_version(void)
 	return version_tag_to_number(PX4_GIT_TAG_STR);
 }
 
+const char *px4_firmware_git_branch(void)
+{
+	return PX4_GIT_BRANCH_NAME;
+}
+
 uint32_t px4_board_version(void)
 {
 #if defined(__PX4_NUTTX)
diff --git a/src/lib/version/version.h b/src/lib/version/version.h
index 8a28f336e9..d069350398 100644
--- a/src/lib/version/version.h
+++ b/src/lib/version/version.h
@@ -118,6 +118,12 @@ __EXPORT const char *px4_toolchain_version(void);
  */
 __EXPORT const char *px4_firmware_version_string(void);
 
+/**
+ * get the git branch name (can be empty, for example if HEAD points to a tag)
+ */
+__EXPORT const char *px4_firmware_git_branch(void);
+
+
 /**
  * Firmware version in binary form (first part of the git tag)
  */
diff --git a/src/modules/logger/logger.cpp b/src/modules/logger/logger.cpp
index 3d73fecfe1..42aff41be4 100644
--- a/src/modules/logger/logger.cpp
+++ b/src/modules/logger/logger.cpp
@@ -1656,6 +1656,12 @@ void Logger::write_version()
 	write_info("sys_os_name", px4_os_name());
 	const char *os_version = px4_os_version_string();
 
+	const char *git_branch = px4_firmware_git_branch();
+
+	if (git_branch && git_branch[0]) {
+		write_info("ver_sw_branch", git_branch);
+	}
+
 	if (os_version) {
 		write_info("sys_os_ver", os_version);
 	}