diff --git a/internal/git/command_factory.go b/internal/git/command_factory.go
index 68286b3125581f6a096eff6131a5ab1f222f635a..24b284673d47d7f9bf82e21fe3a2b1247f412ed2 100644
--- a/internal/git/command_factory.go
+++ b/internal/git/command_factory.go
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ import (
 	"gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitaly/v16/internal/git/trace2hooks"
 	"gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitaly/v16/internal/gitaly/config"
 	"gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitaly/v16/internal/gitaly/storage"
-	"gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitaly/v16/internal/helper/perm"
 	"gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitaly/v16/internal/log"
 	"gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitaly/v16/internal/tracing"
 	"gitlab.com/gitlab-org/labkit/correlation"
@@ -434,17 +433,6 @@ func (cf *ExecCommandFactory) GitVersion(ctx context.Context) (Version, error) {
 	return gitVersion, nil
 }
 
-// scratchDir returns a location within Gitaly's runtime directory to spawn Git processes that do
-// not operate in the context of a repository. The directory is created once if it does not exist.
-func (cf *ExecCommandFactory) scratchDir() (string, error) {
-	dir := cf.cfg.GitScratchDir()
-	if err := os.Mkdir(dir, perm.PrivateDir); err != nil && !errors.Is(err, os.ErrExist) {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("create scratch dir: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	return dir, nil
-}
-
 // newCommand creates a new command.Command for the given git command. If a repo is given, then the
 // command will be run in the context of that repository. Note that this sets up arguments and
 // environment variables for git, but doesn't run in the directory itself. If a directory
@@ -471,20 +459,12 @@ func (cf *ExecCommandFactory) newCommand(ctx context.Context, repo storage.Repos
 		}
 
 		env = append(alternates.Env(repoPath, repo.GetGitObjectDirectory(), repo.GetGitAlternateObjectDirectories()), env...)
-	} else {
-		// If the Git command is running outside the context of a repo, we restrict it to a fixed scratch
-		// directory here.
-		repoPath, err = cf.scratchDir()
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
 	}
 
 	if config.worktreePath != "" {
 		args = append([]string{"-C", config.worktreePath}, args...)
-	} else {
-		// Ensure Git doesn't traverse upwards to find a Git repository.
-		env = append([]string{fmt.Sprintf("GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES=%s", repoPath)}, env...)
+	} else if repoPath != "" {
+		args = append([]string{"--git-dir", repoPath}, args...)
 	}
 
 	execEnv := cf.GetExecutionEnvironment(ctx)
@@ -521,7 +501,6 @@ func (cf *ExecCommandFactory) newCommand(ctx context.Context, repo storage.Repos
 
 	commandOpts = append(
 		commandOpts,
-		command.WithDir(repoPath),
 		command.WithEnvironment(env),
 		command.WithCommandName("git", sc.Name),
 		command.WithCgroup(cf.cgroupsManager, cgroupsAddCommandOpts...),
diff --git a/internal/gitaly/config/config.go b/internal/gitaly/config/config.go
index 14613a2fd2e46c9d5efd83a5ea6847f3ae73ba7a..c9e228a61a4c326dc30161d8de29dfa4eec86ee5 100644
--- a/internal/gitaly/config/config.go
+++ b/internal/gitaly/config/config.go
@@ -944,12 +944,6 @@ func (cfg *Cfg) InternalSocketPath() string {
 	return filepath.Join(cfg.InternalSocketDir(), "intern")
 }
 
-// GitScratchDir is a fixed directory for running Git commands that don't operate
-// against a repository.
-func (cfg *Cfg) GitScratchDir() string {
-	return filepath.Join(cfg.RuntimeDir, "git-scratch")
-}
-
 func (cfg *Cfg) validateBinDir() error {
 	if len(cfg.BinDir) == 0 {
 		return fmt.Errorf("bin_dir: is not set")
diff --git a/internal/gitaly/service/repository/fsck_test.go b/internal/gitaly/service/repository/fsck_test.go
index 749c113a60e16fdc16f5316afed8f9699097ae4c..283be0d5e236db96f0c9f3f8c21dfa232d64aa20 100644
--- a/internal/gitaly/service/repository/fsck_test.go
+++ b/internal/gitaly/service/repository/fsck_test.go
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ func TestFsck(t *testing.T) {
 				setupData := setupData{
 					repo: repo,
 					requireResponse: func(actual *gitalypb.FsckResponse) {
-						require.Regexp(t, "(?s)^fatal: not a git repository .+\n$", string(actual.Error))
+						require.Regexp(t, "^fatal: not a git repository: '.+'\n$", string(actual.Error))
 					},
 				}