diff --git a/.github/scripts/go-mod-tidy-check.sh b/.github/scripts/go-mod-tidy-check.sh
index 2a9c3ca4..41bc6391 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/go-mod-tidy-check.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/go-mod-tidy-check.sh
@@ -1,19 +1,13 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 set -eu
 
-BACKUPS_DIR=$(mktemp -d "TEMP-backups-XXXXXXXXX")
-GIT_HEAD_STATE_DIR=$(mktemp -d "TEMP-git-head-state-XXXXXXXXX")
+ORIGINAL_STATE_DIR=$(mktemp -d "TEMP-original-state-XXXXXXXXX")
 TIDY_STATE_DIR=$(mktemp -d "TEMP-tidy-state-XXXXXXXXX")
 
-trap "cp -v ${BACKUPS_DIR}/* ./ && rm -fR ${BACKUPS_DIR} ${GIT_HEAD_STATE_DIR} ${TIDY_STATE_DIR}" EXIT
+trap "cp -v ${ORIGINAL_STATE_DIR}/* ./ && rm -fR ${ORIGINAL_STATE_DIR} ${TIDY_STATE_DIR}" EXIT
 
-echo "Backing up files from working tree..."
-cp -v go.mod go.sum "${BACKUPS_DIR}"
-
-echo "Capturing state of go.mod and go.sum from git HEAD..."
-git checkout go.mod go.sum
-cp -v go.mod go.sum "${GIT_HEAD_STATE_DIR}"
-echo ""
+echo "Capturing original state of files..."
+cp -v go.mod go.sum "${ORIGINAL_STATE_DIR}"
 
 echo "Capturing state of go.mod and go.sum after running go mod tidy..."
 go mod tidy
@@ -23,8 +17,8 @@ echo ""
 set +e
 
 # Detect difference between the git HEAD state and the go mod tidy state
-DIFF_MOD=$(diff -u "${GIT_HEAD_STATE_DIR}/go.mod" "${TIDY_STATE_DIR}/go.mod")
-DIFF_SUM=$(diff -u "${GIT_HEAD_STATE_DIR}/go.sum" "${TIDY_STATE_DIR}/go.sum")
+DIFF_MOD=$(diff -u "${ORIGINAL_STATE_DIR}/go.mod" "${TIDY_STATE_DIR}/go.mod")
+DIFF_SUM=$(diff -u "${ORIGINAL_STATE_DIR}/go.sum" "${TIDY_STATE_DIR}/go.sum")
 
 if [[ -n "${DIFF_MOD}" || -n "${DIFF_SUM}" ]]; then
     echo "go.mod diff:"
@@ -32,6 +26,6 @@ if [[ -n "${DIFF_MOD}" || -n "${DIFF_SUM}" ]]; then
     echo "go.sum diff:"
     echo "${DIFF_SUM}"
     echo ""
-    printf "FAILED! go.mod and/or go.sum are NOT tidy on current git head; please run 'go mod tidy' and commit the change.\n\n"
+    printf "FAILED! go.mod and/or go.sum are NOT tidy; please run 'go mod tidy'.\n\n"
     exit 1
 fi