diff --git a/lib/platform/gitlab/index.js b/lib/platform/gitlab/index.js
index 337b19d1a2d4411a4a340b63d2ec976b304fd858..5c5e6bdbf251ccbc0596e15f772d1b3a789c3398 100644
--- a/lib/platform/gitlab/index.js
+++ b/lib/platform/gitlab/index.js
@@ -160,6 +160,9 @@ async function initRepo({
     await Promise.all([getPrList(), getFileList()]);
   } catch (err) /* istanbul ignore next */ {
     logger.debug('Caught initRepo error');
+    if (err.message.includes('HEAD is not a symbolic ref')) {
+      throw new Error('empty');
+    }
     if (err.message === 'archived') {
       throw err;
     }