diff --git a/lib/workers/repository/onboarding/branch/rebase.js b/lib/workers/repository/onboarding/branch/rebase.js
index 3889d178ec832e4096d43eac71f17c6a7d27549d..56be8a7f628e8d4f79172c786ae82198d769c36d 100644
--- a/lib/workers/repository/onboarding/branch/rebase.js
+++ b/lib/workers/repository/onboarding/branch/rebase.js
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ async function rebaseOnboardingBranch(config) {
       [
         {
           name: defaultConfigFile,
-          contents: existingContents || contents,
+          contents,
         },
       ],
       commitMessage