diff --git a/.github/workflows/codeql.yml b/.github/workflows/codeql.yml
index 8755e2fd0..0dc87bb2c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/codeql.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/codeql.yml
@@ -116,3 +116,5 @@ jobs:
       uses: github/codeql-action/analyze@v4
       with:
         category: "/language:${{matrix.language}}"
+        ref: ${{ github.repository_owner }} # since we are running this command in the root dir and that root is cloned via LabKey/server
+        sha: ${{ github.sha }}