diff --git a/common/config.go b/common/config.go
index 5a871896..1d9cf07e 100644
--- a/common/config.go
+++ b/common/config.go
@@ -78,6 +78,9 @@ func (c *Condition) MatchBranch(branch string) bool {
 	if len(c.Branch) == 0 {
 		return true
 	}
+	if strings.HasPrefix(branch, "refs/heads/") {
+		branch = branch[11:]
+	}
 	match, _ := filepath.Match(c.Branch, branch)
 	return match
 }
diff --git a/parser/parse.go b/parser/parse.go
index 7543efc2..2c8390e9 100644
--- a/parser/parse.go
+++ b/parser/parse.go
@@ -92,3 +92,11 @@ func ParseSingle(raw string, opts *Opts) (*common.Config, error) {
 	}
 	return conf, err
 }
+
+func ParseCondition(raw string) (*common.Condition, error) {
+	c := struct {
+		Condition *common.Condition `yaml:"when"`
+	}{}
+	err := yaml.Unmarshal([]byte(raw), c)
+	return c.Condition, err
+}
diff --git a/server/hooks.go b/server/hooks.go
index 3ceb6944..4cabcc4b 100644
--- a/server/hooks.go
+++ b/server/hooks.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 
 	log "github.com/Sirupsen/logrus"
 	"github.com/drone/drone/common"
+	"github.com/drone/drone/parser"
 	"github.com/drone/drone/parser/inject"
 	"github.com/drone/drone/parser/matrix"
 	"github.com/drone/drone/queue"
@@ -122,11 +123,12 @@ func PostHook(c *gin.Context) {
 	}
 
 	// verify the branches can be built vs skipped
-	// s, _ := script.ParseBuild(string(yml))
-	// if len(hook.PullRequest) == 0 && !s.MatchBranch(hook.Branch) {
-	// 	w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
-	// 	return
-	// }
+	when, _ := parser.ParseCondition(string(raw))
+	if build.Commit != nil && when != nil && !when.MatchBranch(build.Commit.Ref) {
+		log.Infof("ignoring hook. yaml file excludes repo and branch %s %s", repo.FullName, build.Commit.Ref)
+		c.AbortWithStatus(200)
+		return
+	}
 
 	err = store.SetBuild(repo.FullName, build)
 	if err != nil {