diff --git a/tests/regres/deqp.json b/tests/regres/deqp.json
index 9a4ca29..46168c0 100644
--- a/tests/regres/deqp.json
+++ b/tests/regres/deqp.json
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 {
     "remote": "git@gitlab.khronos.org:Tracker/vk-gl-cts.git",
+    "branch": "vulkan-cts-1.1.6",
     "sha": "a7d268a6a3ee9655298d61cdb8b5c42306a4e335",
     "patches": [
         "tests/regres/deqp-patches/deqp-x11.patch"
diff --git a/tests/regres/git/git.go b/tests/regres/git/git.go
index fec3d41..6598bd4 100644
--- a/tests/regres/git/git.go
+++ b/tests/regres/git/git.go
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
 )
 
 const (
-	gitTimeout = time.Minute * 5 // timeout for a git operation
+	gitTimeout = time.Minute * 15 // timeout for a git operation
 )
 
 var exe string
@@ -111,8 +111,31 @@
 	return shell.Shell(gitTimeout, exe, project, args...)
 }
 
-// Checkout performs a git checkout of the given commit into path.
-func Checkout(path, url string, commit Hash) error {
+// CheckoutRemoteBranch performs a git fetch and checkout of the given branch into path.
+func CheckoutRemoteBranch(path, url string, branch string) error {
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(path, 0777); err != nil {
+		return cause.Wrap(err, "mkdir '"+path+"' failed")
+	}
+
+	for _, cmds := range [][]string{
+		{"init"},
+		{"remote", "add", "origin", url},
+		// Note: this depth is here to prevent massive dEQP checkouts that can
+		// take all day. If the commit cannot be found in the checked out branch
+		// then this limit may need to be increased.
+		{"fetch", "origin", "--depth=99", branch},
+	} {
+		if err := shell.Shell(gitTimeout, exe, path, cmds...); err != nil {
+			os.RemoveAll(path)
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// CheckoutRemoteCommit performs a git fetch and checkout of the given commit into path.
+func CheckoutRemoteCommit(path, url string, commit Hash) error {
 	if err := os.MkdirAll(path, 0777); err != nil {
 		return cause.Wrap(err, "mkdir '"+path+"' failed")
 	}
@@ -132,6 +155,11 @@
 	return nil
 }
 
+// CheckoutCommit performs a git checkout of the given commit.
+func CheckoutCommit(path string, commit Hash) error {
+	return shell.Shell(gitTimeout, exe, path, "checkout", commit.String())
+}
+
 // Apply applys the patch file to the git repo at dir.
 func Apply(dir, patch string) error {
 	return shell.Shell(gitTimeout, exe, dir, "apply", patch)
diff --git a/tests/regres/main.go b/tests/regres/main.go
index b5ac659..fbd87bf 100644
--- a/tests/regres/main.go
+++ b/tests/regres/main.go
@@ -346,6 +346,7 @@
 
 	cfg := struct {
 		Remote  string   `json:"remote"`
+		Branch  string   `json:"branch"`
 		SHA     string   `json:"sha"`
 		Patches []string `json:"patches"`
 	}{}
@@ -372,38 +373,52 @@
 			}
 		}()
 
-		log.Printf("Checking out deqp %s @ %s into %s\n", cfg.Remote, cfg.SHA, cacheDir)
-		if err := git.Checkout(cacheDir, cfg.Remote, git.ParseHash(cfg.SHA)); err != nil {
-			return deqp{}, cause.Wrap(err, "Couldn't build deqp %s @ %s", cfg.Remote, cfg.SHA)
+		if cfg.Branch != "" {
+			// If a branch is specified, then fetch the branch then checkout the
+			// commit by SHA. This is a workaround for git repos that error when
+			// attempting to directly checkout a remote commit.
+			log.Printf("Checking out deqp %v branch %v into %v\n", cfg.Remote, cfg.Branch, cacheDir)
+			if err := git.CheckoutRemoteBranch(cacheDir, cfg.Remote, cfg.Branch); err != nil {
+				return deqp{}, cause.Wrap(err, "Couldn't checkout deqp branch %v @ %v", cfg.Remote, cfg.Branch)
+			}
+			log.Printf("Checking out deqp %v commit %v \n", cfg.Remote, cfg.SHA)
+			if err := git.CheckoutCommit(cacheDir, git.ParseHash(cfg.SHA)); err != nil {
+				return deqp{}, cause.Wrap(err, "Couldn't checkout deqp commit %v @ %v", cfg.Remote, cfg.SHA)
+			}
+		} else {
+			log.Printf("Checking out deqp %v @ %v into %v\n", cfg.Remote, cfg.SHA, cacheDir)
+			if err := git.CheckoutRemoteCommit(cacheDir, cfg.Remote, git.ParseHash(cfg.SHA)); err != nil {
+				return deqp{}, cause.Wrap(err, "Couldn't checkout deqp commit %v @ %v", cfg.Remote, cfg.SHA)
+			}
 		}
 
 		log.Println("Fetching deqp dependencies")
 		if err := shell.Shell(buildTimeout, r.python, cacheDir, "external/fetch_sources.py"); err != nil {
-			return deqp{}, cause.Wrap(err, "Couldn't fetch deqp sources %s @ %s", cfg.Remote, cfg.SHA)
+			return deqp{}, cause.Wrap(err, "Couldn't fetch deqp sources %v @ %v", cfg.Remote, cfg.SHA)
 		}
 
 		log.Println("Applying deqp patches")
 		for _, patch := range cfg.Patches {
 			fullPath := path.Join(srcDir, patch)
 			if err := git.Apply(cacheDir, fullPath); err != nil {
-				return deqp{}, cause.Wrap(err, "Couldn't apply deqp patch %s for %s @ %s", patch, cfg.Remote, cfg.SHA)
+				return deqp{}, cause.Wrap(err, "Couldn't apply deqp patch %v for %v @ %v", patch, cfg.Remote, cfg.SHA)
 			}
 		}
 
-		log.Printf("Building deqp into %s\n", buildDir)
+		log.Printf("Building deqp into %v\n", buildDir)
 		if err := os.MkdirAll(buildDir, 0777); err != nil {
-			return deqp{}, cause.Wrap(err, "Couldn't make deqp cache directory '%s'", cacheDir)
+			return deqp{}, cause.Wrap(err, "Couldn't make deqp build directory '%v'", buildDir)
 		}
 
 		if err := shell.Shell(buildTimeout, r.cmake, buildDir,
 			"-DDEQP_TARGET=x11_egl",
 			"-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release",
 			".."); err != nil {
-			return deqp{}, cause.Wrap(err, "Couldn't generate build rules for deqp %s @ %s", cfg.Remote, cfg.SHA)
+			return deqp{}, cause.Wrap(err, "Couldn't generate build rules for deqp %v @ %v", cfg.Remote, cfg.SHA)
 		}
 
 		if err := shell.Shell(buildTimeout, r.make, buildDir, fmt.Sprintf("-j%d", runtime.NumCPU())); err != nil {
-			return deqp{}, cause.Wrap(err, "Couldn't build deqp %s @ %s", cfg.Remote, cfg.SHA)
+			return deqp{}, cause.Wrap(err, "Couldn't build deqp %v @ %v", cfg.Remote, cfg.SHA)
 		}
 
 		success = true
@@ -801,7 +816,7 @@
 	}
 	log.Printf("Checking out '%s'\n", t.commit)
 	os.RemoveAll(t.srcDir)
-	if err := git.Checkout(t.srcDir, gitURL, t.commit); err != nil {
+	if err := git.CheckoutRemoteCommit(t.srcDir, gitURL, t.commit); err != nil {
 		return cause.Wrap(err, "Checking out commit '%s'", t.commit)
 	}
 	log.Printf("Checked out commit '%s'\n", t.commit)