diff --git a/.pre-commit-hooks.yaml b/.pre-commit-hooks.yaml
index 2a3a08848..21f06fd86 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-hooks.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-hooks.yaml
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@
     default branch on the origin repository. Useful for checking messages after
     the fact (e.g., pre-push or in CI) without an expensive check of the entire
     repository history.
-  entry: cz check
+  entry: cz -nr 3 check
+  # FIXME: origin/HEAD seems to be wrong. it probably should be origin/master or origin/main instead
   args: [--rev-range, origin/HEAD..HEAD]
   always_run: true
   pass_filenames: false
diff --git a/commitizen/commands/check.py b/commitizen/commands/check.py
index e22155cf7..0bb205eb3 100644
--- a/commitizen/commands/check.py
+++ b/commitizen/commands/check.py
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-import os
 import re
 import sys
+from collections.abc import Generator
 from typing import Any
 
 from commitizen import factory, git, out
@@ -17,13 +17,12 @@
 class Check:
     """Check if the current commit msg matches the commitizen format."""
 
-    def __init__(self, config: BaseConfig, arguments: dict[str, Any], cwd=os.getcwd()):
+    def __init__(self, config: BaseConfig, arguments: dict[str, Any]) -> None:
         """Initial check command.
 
         Args:
             config: The config object required for the command to perform its action
             arguments: All the flags provided by the user
-            cwd: Current work directory
         """
         self.commit_msg_file: str | None = arguments.get("commit_msg_file")
         self.commit_msg: str | None = arguments.get("message")
@@ -34,7 +33,6 @@ def __init__(self, config: BaseConfig, arguments: dict[str, Any], cwd=os.getcwd(
         self.max_msg_length: int = arguments.get("message_length_limit", 0)
 
         # we need to distinguish between None and [], which is a valid value
-
         allowed_prefixes = arguments.get("allowed_prefixes")
         self.allowed_prefixes: list[str] = (
             allowed_prefixes
@@ -48,7 +46,7 @@ def __init__(self, config: BaseConfig, arguments: dict[str, Any], cwd=os.getcwd(
         self.encoding = config.settings["encoding"]
         self.cz = factory.commiter_factory(self.config)
 
-    def _valid_command_argument(self):
+    def _valid_command_argument(self) -> None:
         num_exclusive_args_provided = sum(
             arg is not None
             for arg in (self.commit_msg_file, self.commit_msg, self.rev_range)
@@ -61,7 +59,7 @@ def _valid_command_argument(self):
                 "See 'cz check -h' for more information"
             )
 
-    def __call__(self):
+    def __call__(self) -> None:
         """Validate if commit messages follows the conventional pattern.
 
         Raises:
@@ -72,12 +70,12 @@ def __call__(self):
             raise NoCommitsFoundError(f"No commit found with range: '{self.rev_range}'")
 
         pattern = self.cz.schema_pattern()
-        ill_formated_commits = [
+        ill_formated_commits: Generator[git.GitCommit] = (
             commit
             for commit in commits
             if not self.validate_commit_message(commit.message, pattern)
-        ]
-        displayed_msgs_content = "\n".join(
+        )
+        displayed_msgs_content: str = "\n".join(
             [
                 f'commit "{commit.rev}": "{commit.message}"'
                 for commit in ill_formated_commits
@@ -92,7 +90,8 @@ def __call__(self):
             )
         out.success("Commit validation: successful!")
 
-    def _get_commits(self):
+    def _get_commits(self) -> list[git.GitCommit]:
+        # TODO: this method seems to do a few different things. probably would be better if we could split it to smaller functions
         msg = None
         # Get commit message from file (--commit-msg-file)
         if self.commit_msg_file is not None:
diff --git a/commitizen/git.py b/commitizen/git.py
index 19ca46b6c..ed3eb2ab0 100644
--- a/commitizen/git.py
+++ b/commitizen/git.py
@@ -310,3 +310,10 @@ def _get_log_as_str_list(start: str | None, end: str, args: str) -> list[str]:
     if not c.out:
         return []
     return c.out.split(f"{delimiter}\n")
+
+
+def guess_default_branch() -> str:
+    c = cmd.run("git branch --format '%(refname:short)' --list master main")
+    if c.return_code != 0:
+        raise GitCommandError(c.err)
+    return c.out.strip()