diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 450fd229..7e61ed8f 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -8,7 +8,9 @@
 *.so
 *.dylib
 /uncloud
+/uncloud-*
 /uncloudd
+/uncloudd-*
 
 # OS X
 .DS_Store
diff --git a/internal/gitutil/state.go b/internal/gitutil/state.go
index 9cda871f..0b4ab1d0 100644
--- a/internal/gitutil/state.go
+++ b/internal/gitutil/state.go
@@ -36,10 +36,12 @@ func InspectGitState(dir string) (GitState, error) {
 		return state, nil
 	}
 
-	// Get the current commit SHA.
-	sha, err := gitCommand(dir, "rev-parse", "HEAD")
+	// Get the current commit SHA. An initialised but empty repo has no HEAD yet,
+	// so treat it as a non-repo so callers can fall back to non-git logic.
+	sha, err := gitCommand(dir, "rev-parse", "--verify", "HEAD")
 	if err != nil {
-		return state, fmt.Errorf("get current commit SHA: %w", err)
+		state.IsRepo = false
+		return state, nil
 	}
 	state.SHA = strings.TrimSpace(sha)
 
diff --git a/internal/gitutil/state_test.go b/internal/gitutil/state_test.go
index 1533a1e3..5b09df0a 100644
--- a/internal/gitutil/state_test.go
+++ b/internal/gitutil/state_test.go
@@ -46,6 +46,22 @@ func TestInspectGitState_NotARepo(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.False(t, state.IsDirty)
 }
 
+func TestInspectGitState_EmptyRepo(t *testing.T) {
+	// Create a temporary git repo with no commits.
+	tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+	initGitRepo(t, tmpDir)
+
+	state, err := InspectGitState(tmpDir)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// An empty repo should be treated as a non-repo so that callers fall back to non-git logic.
+	assert.False(t, state.IsRepo)
+	assert.Empty(t, state.SHA)
+	assert.Empty(t, state.ShortSHA(7))
+	assert.True(t, state.Date.IsZero())
+	assert.False(t, state.IsDirty)
+}
+
 func TestInspectGitState_CleanRepo(t *testing.T) {
 	// Create a temporary git repo.
 	tmpDir := t.TempDir()