diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 5731078..b0ea7db 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -111,10 +111,13 @@ function remote(name, token) {
  */
 
 function satisfy(refs, version){
+  var master;
   for (var i = 0, ref; ref = refs[i++];) {
+    if ('master' == ref.name) master = ref;
     if (equal(ref.name, version)) return ref;
   }
-};
+  return master;
+}
 
 /**
  * Arrange the refs
diff --git a/test/gh-resolve.js b/test/gh-resolve.js
index 9b3e24a..3bfa080 100644
--- a/test/gh-resolve.js
+++ b/test/gh-resolve.js
@@ -64,6 +64,14 @@ describe('resolve()', function(){
     });
   })
 
+  it('should use master when there are no tags', function(done){
+    resolve('mnmly/slider', function(err, ref){
+      if (err) return done(err);
+      assert('master' == ref.name);
+      done();
+    })
+  })
+
   it('should provide better errors for invalid repos', function(done) {
     resolve('sweet/repo@amazing/version', function(err, ref){
       assert(err);