diff --git a/testing/ci/publish_metrics.py b/testing/ci/publish_metrics.py
index d816db6..c600dec 100644
--- a/testing/ci/publish_metrics.py
+++ b/testing/ci/publish_metrics.py
@@ -20,7 +20,10 @@ def _build_parser() -> argparse.ArgumentParser:
     parser.add_argument("--status", choices=("ok", "failed"), required=True, help="Gate outcome")
     parser.add_argument("--junit", nargs="*", default=(), help="JUnit XML files to aggregate")
     parser.add_argument("--quality-report", default="build/quality-gate.json", help="Quality gate JSON report")
-    parser.add_argument("--branch", default=os.getenv("BRANCH_NAME", os.getenv("GIT_BRANCH", "")), help="SCM branch")
+    branch_default = os.getenv("BRANCH_NAME") or os.getenv("GIT_BRANCH") or "unknown"
+    if branch_default.startswith("origin/"):
+        branch_default = branch_default[len("origin/") :]
+    parser.add_argument("--branch", default=branch_default, help="SCM branch")
     parser.add_argument("--build-number", default=os.getenv("BUILD_NUMBER", ""), help="Jenkins build number")
     return parser