diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/github_branch_source/GitHubSCMSourceBuilder.java b/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/github_branch_source/GitHubSCMSourceBuilder.java
index f0a057ce5..616cbb3c8 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/github_branch_source/GitHubSCMSourceBuilder.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/github_branch_source/GitHubSCMSourceBuilder.java
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ public GitHubSCMSource build() {
         GitHubSCMSource result = new GitHubSCMSource(repoOwner, projectName(), credentials);
         result.setId(id());
         result.setApiUri(apiUri());
-        result.setCredentialsId(credentialsId());
+        result.setCredentialsId(credentials == null ? credentialsId() : credentials.getId());
         result.setTraits(traits());
         return result;
     }