diff --git a/lib/platform/git/storage.js b/lib/platform/git/storage.js
index 308b3fa41c6af1317653c1ae23ff7e2c22e33fec..15ee947aec8b57e4f6c304d14f801d04b98e3f2f 100644
--- a/lib/platform/git/storage.js
+++ b/lib/platform/git/storage.js
@@ -117,6 +117,9 @@ class Storage {
         const latestCommitDate = (await git.log({ n: 1 })).latest.date;
         logger.debug({ latestCommitDate }, 'latest commit');
       } catch (err) /* istanbul ignore next */ {
+        if (err.message.includes('does not have any commits yet')) {
+          throw new Error('empty');
+        }
         logger.warn({ err }, 'Cannot retrieve latest commit date');
       }