diff --git a/builtin-fetch-pack.c b/builtin-fetch-pack.c
index de1e8d136..6e98cafd0 100644
--- a/builtin-fetch-pack.c
+++ b/builtin-fetch-pack.c
@@ -309,7 +309,8 @@ static int find_common(int fd[2], unsigned char *result_sha1,
 		}
 		flushes--;
 	}
-	return retval;
+	/* it is no error to fetch into a completely empty repo */
+	return count ? retval : 0;
 }
 
 static struct commit_list *complete;