diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/vcs/git.py b/src/pip/_internal/vcs/git.py
index 65722ceab..dc80a0532 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/vcs/git.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/vcs/git.py
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ class Git(VersionControl):
         version = '.'.join(version.split('.')[:3])
         return parse_version(version)
 
-    def get_branch(self, location):
+    def get_current_branch(self, location):
         """
         Return the current branch, or None if HEAD isn't at a branch
         (e.g. detached HEAD).
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ class Git(VersionControl):
                 if not self.is_commit_id_equal(dest, rev_options.rev):
                     cmd_args = ['checkout', '-q'] + rev_options.to_args()
                     self.run_command(cmd_args, cwd=dest)
-            elif self.get_branch(dest) != branch_name:
+            elif self.get_current_branch(dest) != branch_name:
                 # Then a specific branch was requested, and that branch
                 # is not yet checked out.
                 track_branch = 'origin/{}'.format(branch_name)
diff --git a/tests/functional/test_vcs_git.py b/tests/functional/test_vcs_git.py
index be9020e21..9a51bf594 100644
--- a/tests/functional/test_vcs_git.py
+++ b/tests/functional/test_vcs_git.py
@@ -83,14 +83,14 @@ def test_get_remote_url(script, tmpdir):
     assert remote_url == source_url
 
 
-def test_get_branch(script):
+def test_get_current_branch(script):
     repo_dir = str(script.scratch_path)
 
     script.run('git', 'init', cwd=repo_dir)
     sha = do_commit(script, repo_dir)
 
     git = Git()
-    assert git.get_branch(repo_dir) == 'master'
+    assert git.get_current_branch(repo_dir) == 'master'
 
     # Switch to a branch with the same SHA as "master" but whose name
     # is alphabetically after.
@@ -98,11 +98,11 @@ def test_get_branch(script):
         'git', 'checkout', '-b', 'release', cwd=repo_dir,
         expect_stderr=True,
     )
-    assert git.get_branch(repo_dir) == 'release'
+    assert git.get_current_branch(repo_dir) == 'release'
 
     # Also test the detached HEAD case.
     script.run('git', 'checkout', sha, cwd=repo_dir, expect_stderr=True)
-    assert git.get_branch(repo_dir) is None
+    assert git.get_current_branch(repo_dir) is None
 
 
 def test_get_revision_sha(script):