diff --git a/internal/gitaly/repoutil/create.go b/internal/gitaly/repoutil/create.go
index 650996a756f9a3193c469331f24b7e2acc1bdaf1..14aa756d67c3d2272bc4ac3f9b4d55b4621aac74 100644
--- a/internal/gitaly/repoutil/create.go
+++ b/internal/gitaly/repoutil/create.go
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@ func Create(
 			Flags: append([]git.Option{
 				git.Flag{Name: "--bare"},
 				git.Flag{Name: "--quiet"},
+				git.Flag{Name: fmt.Sprintf("--object-format=sha256")},
 			}, cfg.gitOptions...),
 			Args: []string{newRepoDir.Path()},
 		}, git.WithStderr(stderr))