diff --git a/tools/batch-rebase b/tools/batch-rebase
index 6ad6c6438fa4073a87d0b19cae9d33b62c723582..44b8b77793e5193bd00c8df2cf084f2143290c06 100755
--- a/tools/batch-rebase
+++ b/tools/batch-rebase
@@ -590,8 +590,10 @@ def main():
                 if not new_branch_stem:
                     create_parser.error('--create-branch or tip/ref key in config file is mandatory')
 
-                new_branch = '{}-{}'.format(new_branch_stem, refs_suffix)
-                persistent_tags = default_from_conf(args.tags, ['tip', 'tags']) or args.tags_suffix
+                new_branch = '{}-{}'.format(new_branch_stem, refs_suffix) if refs_suffix else new_branch_stem
+                persistent_tags = bool(
+                    default_from_conf(args.tags, ['tip', 'tags']) or args.tags_suffix
+                )
 
                 # If the user passed an explicit suffix, use it rather than the date
                 if args.tags_suffix or args.refs_suffix:
@@ -621,7 +623,7 @@ def main():
 
                 git = make_git_func(repo)
                 if args.checkout:
-                    git(['checkout', '--', new_branch])
+                    git(['checkout', new_branch, '--'])
 
             elif args.subcommand == 'resume':
                 temp_repo = repo