diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/handy-update.yml b/.gitea/workflows/handy-update.yml
index ab23e6b..89a9dcc 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/handy-update.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/handy-update.yml
@@ -35,15 +35,10 @@ jobs:
           PY
           )
 
-          latest_version=$(python - <<'PY'
-          import json, urllib.request
-          url='https://api.github.com/repos/cjpais/Handy/releases/latest'
-          with urllib.request.urlopen(url) as r:
-              data=json.load(r)
-          tag=data.get('tag_name','').lstrip('v')
-          print(tag)
-          PY
-          )
+          latest_version=$(curl -fsSLI -o /dev/null -w '%{url_effective}' \
+            'https://github.com/cjpais/Handy/releases/latest' \
+            | sed -E 's#.*/##' \
+            | sed 's/^v//')
 
           echo "current=$current_version"
           echo "latest=$latest_version"
@@ -110,16 +105,36 @@ jobs:
           fi
 
           echo "Creating PR..."
-          curl -sS -X POST \
-            -H "Authorization: token ${GITEA_TOKEN}" \
-            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-            "${api}/pulls" \
-            -d "$(cat <<JSON
-          {
-            \"title\": \"update handy to ${{ steps.update.outputs.version }}\",
-            \"head\": \"${branch}\",
-            \"base\": \"main\",
-            \"body\": \"automated update of handy appimage version and hash\"
-          }
-          JSON
-          )"
+          created="false"
+          for head in "${branch}" "thomas:${branch}"; do
+            echo "Trying head=${head}"
+            response=$(curl -sS -w '\n%{http_code}' -X POST \
+              -H "Authorization: token ${GITEA_TOKEN}" \
+              -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+              "${api}/pulls" \
+              -d "$(cat <<JSON
+            {
+              "title": "update handy to ${{ steps.update.outputs.version }}",
+              "head": "${head}",
+              "base": "main",
+              "body": "automated update of handy appimage version and hash"
+            }
+            JSON
+            )")
+
+            body=$(printf '%s\n' "$response" | sed '$d')
+            code=$(printf '%s\n' "$response" | tail -n1)
+
+            echo "Create PR status: $code"
+            echo "$body"
+
+            if [ "$code" -ge 200 ] && [ "$code" -lt 300 ]; then
+              created="true"
+              break
+            fi
+          done
+
+          if [ "$created" != "true" ]; then
+            echo "PR creation failed"
+            exit 1
+          fi
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/helium-update.yml b/.gitea/workflows/helium-update.yml
index 486aa3f..8e712fc 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/helium-update.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/helium-update.yml
@@ -36,15 +36,10 @@ jobs:
           PY
           )
 
-          latest_version=$(python - <<'PY'
-          import json, urllib.request
-          url='https://api.github.com/repos/imputnet/helium-linux/releases/latest'
-          with urllib.request.urlopen(url) as r:
-              data=json.load(r)
-          tag=data.get('tag_name','').lstrip('v')
-          print(tag)
-          PY
-          )
+          latest_version=$(curl -fsSLI -o /dev/null -w '%{url_effective}' \
+            'https://github.com/imputnet/helium-linux/releases/latest' \
+            | sed -E 's#.*/##' \
+            | sed 's/^v//')
 
           echo "current=$current_version"
           echo "latest=$latest_version"
@@ -110,16 +105,37 @@ jobs:
             exit 0
           fi
 
-          curl -fsS -X POST \
-            -H "Authorization: token ${GITEA_TOKEN}" \
-            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-            "${api}/pulls" \
-            -d "$(cat <<JSON
-          {
-            \"title\": \"update helium to ${{ steps.update.outputs.version }}\",
-            \"head\": \"${branch}\",
-            \"base\": \"main\",
-            \"body\": \"automated update of helium appimage version and hash\"
-          }
-          JSON
-          )"
+          echo "Creating PR..."
+          created="false"
+          for head in "${branch}" "thomas:${branch}"; do
+            echo "Trying head=${head}"
+            response=$(curl -sS -w '\n%{http_code}' -X POST \
+              -H "Authorization: token ${GITEA_TOKEN}" \
+              -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+              "${api}/pulls" \
+              -d "$(cat <<JSON
+            {
+              "title": "update helium to ${{ steps.update.outputs.version }}",
+              "head": "${head}",
+              "base": "main",
+              "body": "automated update of helium appimage version and hash"
+            }
+            JSON
+            )")
+
+            body=$(printf '%s\n' "$response" | sed '$d')
+            code=$(printf '%s\n' "$response" | tail -n1)
+
+            echo "Create PR status: $code"
+            echo "$body"
+
+            if [ "$code" -ge 200 ] && [ "$code" -lt 300 ]; then
+              created="true"
+              break
+            fi
+          done
+
+          if [ "$created" != "true" ]; then
+            echo "PR creation failed"
+            exit 1
+          fi
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/zen-browser-update.yml b/.gitea/workflows/zen-browser-update.yml
index f6048eb..49c0dbe 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/zen-browser-update.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/zen-browser-update.yml
@@ -35,14 +35,10 @@ jobs:
           PY
           )
 
-          latest_version=$(python - <<'PY'
-          import json, urllib.request
-          url='https://api.github.com/repos/zen-browser/desktop/releases/latest'
-          with urllib.request.urlopen(url) as r:
-              data=json.load(r)
-          print(data.get('tag_name','').lstrip('v'))
-          PY
-          )
+          latest_version=$(curl -fsSLI -o /dev/null -w '%{url_effective}' \
+            'https://github.com/zen-browser/desktop/releases/latest' \
+            | sed -E 's#.*/##' \
+            | sed 's/^v//')
 
           echo "current=$current_version"
           echo "latest=$latest_version"
@@ -107,16 +103,37 @@ jobs:
             exit 0
           fi
 
-          curl -fsS -X POST \
-            -H "Authorization: token ${GITEA_TOKEN}" \
-            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-            "${api}/pulls" \
-            -d "$(cat <<JSON
-          {
-            \"title\": \"update zen browser to ${{ steps.update.outputs.version }}\",
-            \"head\": \"${branch}\",
-            \"base\": \"main\",
-            \"body\": \"automated update of zen browser appimage version and hash\"
-          }
-          JSON
-          )"
+          echo "Creating PR..."
+          created="false"
+          for head in "${branch}" "thomas:${branch}"; do
+            echo "Trying head=${head}"
+            response=$(curl -sS -w '\n%{http_code}' -X POST \
+              -H "Authorization: token ${GITEA_TOKEN}" \
+              -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+              "${api}/pulls" \
+              -d "$(cat <<JSON
+            {
+              "title": "update zen browser to ${{ steps.update.outputs.version }}",
+              "head": "${head}",
+              "base": "main",
+              "body": "automated update of zen browser appimage version and hash"
+            }
+            JSON
+            )")
+
+            body=$(printf '%s\n' "$response" | sed '$d')
+            code=$(printf '%s\n' "$response" | tail -n1)
+
+            echo "Create PR status: $code"
+            echo "$body"
+
+            if [ "$code" -ge 200 ] && [ "$code" -lt 300 ]; then
+              created="true"
+              break
+            fi
+          done
+
+          if [ "$created" != "true" ]; then
+            echo "PR creation failed"
+            exit 1
+          fi