Put the following in debian/gbp.conf:
# Configuration file for git-buildpackage and friends [DEFAULT] # the default branch for upstream sources: upstream-branch = upstream # the default branch for the debian patch: debian-branch = master # use pristine-tar: pristine-tar = TrueThe first two settings are not really useful since they are the defaults, but it might be handy to have them around when working with several branches. The pristine-tar is necessary if tarballs are imported. Please see the git-buildpackage documentation for complete information.
If you tried git-buildpackage before writing your debian/gbp.conf, remember to delete the .orig tarball, and rebuild after writing debian/gbp.conf. Alternatively, you can invoke git-buildpackage with the --git-pristine-tar option.