diff --git a/eng/common/scripts/Delete-RemoteBranches.ps1 b/eng/common/scripts/Delete-RemoteBranches.ps1
index 6b2e4347224c..f9e73e75405d 100644
--- a/eng/common/scripts/Delete-RemoteBranches.ps1
+++ b/eng/common/scripts/Delete-RemoteBranches.ps1
@@ -33,8 +33,8 @@ foreach ($res in $responses)
     continue
   }
   $branch = $res.ref
+  $branchName = $branch.Replace("refs/heads/","")
   try {
-    $branchName = $branch.Replace("refs/heads/","")
     $head = "${RepoId}:${branchName}"
     LogDebug "Operating on branch [ $branchName ]"
     $pullRequests = Get-GitHubPullRequests -RepoId $RepoId -State "all" -Head $head -AuthToken $AuthToken
@@ -62,11 +62,11 @@ foreach ($res in $responses)
     try {
       $commitDate = Get-GithubReferenceCommitDate -commitUrl $res.object.url -AuthToken $AuthToken
       if (!$commitDate -or ($commitDate -gt $LastCommitOlderThan)) {
-        LogDebug "No last commit date or the branch $branch last commit date [$commitDate] is newer than the date $LastCommitOlderThan. Skipping."
+        LogDebug "No last commit date or the branch $branch last commit date [ $commitDate ] is newer than the date $LastCommitOlderThan. Skipping."
         continue
       }
       
-      LogDebug "Branch [ $branch ] in repo [ $RepoId ] has a last commit date $commitDate that is older than $LastCommitOlderThan. "
+      LogDebug "Branch [ $branchName ] in repo [ $RepoId ] has a last commit date [ $commitDate ] that is older than $LastCommitOlderThan. "
     }
     catch {
       LogError "Get-GithubReferenceCommitDate failed with exception:`n$_"
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ foreach ($res in $responses)
   } 
   try {
     Remove-GitHubSourceReferences -RepoId $RepoId -Ref $branch -AuthToken $AuthToken
-    LogDebug "The branch $branch in $RepoId has been deleted."
+    LogDebug "The branch [ $branchName ] in [ $RepoId ] has been deleted."
   }
   catch {
     LogError "Remove-GitHubSourceReferences failed with exception:`n$_"