diff --git a/git-flow-feature b/git-flow-feature
index 3ed06d0..91a7749 100644
--- a/git-flow-feature
+++ b/git-flow-feature
@@ -282,14 +282,18 @@
 	require_clean_working_tree
 
 	# update local repo with remote changes first, if asked
-	if flag fetch; then
-		git fetch -q "$ORIGIN" "$BRANCH"
+	if has "$ORIGIN/$BRANCH" "$(git_remote_branches)"; then
+    	if flag fetch; then
+	    	git fetch -q "$ORIGIN" "$BRANCH"
+	    fi
 	fi
 
 	if has "$ORIGIN/$BRANCH" "$(git_remote_branches)"; then
 		require_branches_equal "$BRANCH" "$ORIGIN/$BRANCH"
 	fi
-	require_branches_equal "$DEVELOP_BRANCH" "$ORIGIN/$DEVELOP_BRANCH"
+	if has "$ORIGIN/$DEVELOP_BRANCH" "$(git_remote_branches)"; then
+    	require_branches_equal "$DEVELOP_BRANCH" "$ORIGIN/$DEVELOP_BRANCH"
+    fi
 
 	# if the user wants to rebase, do that first
 	if flag rebase; then