diff --git a/clone.go b/clone.go
index 52bfabd..e0ee77e 100644
--- a/clone.go
+++ b/clone.go
@@ -123,6 +123,9 @@ func makeValidGoSum(check *gitpb.Repo) error {
 		log.Info(check.GoPath, "is a golang primitive! no need to parse go.sum because there is not one!")
 		return nil
 	}
+	// attempt to grab the notes
+	check.Run([]string{"git", "fetch", "origin", "refs/notes/*:refs/notes/*"})
+
 	// first try to generate go.mod & go.sum with go-mod-clean
 	if err := check.ValidGoSum(); err != nil {
 		log.Info("try running go-mod-clean")