diff --git a/scripts/lib/upgrade-zulip-from-git b/scripts/lib/upgrade-zulip-from-git
index 4f3addd9bd..c9b91f836d 100755
--- a/scripts/lib/upgrade-zulip-from-git
+++ b/scripts/lib/upgrade-zulip-from-git
@@ -60,11 +60,15 @@ try:
 
     # Populate LOCAL_GIT_CACHE_DIR with both the requested remote and zulip/zulip.
     if not os.path.exists(LOCAL_GIT_CACHE_DIR):
-        logging.info("Cloning the repository")
+        logging.info("Making local repository cache")
         subprocess.check_call(
-            ["git", "clone", "-q", remote_url, LOCAL_GIT_CACHE_DIR],
+            ["git", "init", "--bare", "-q", LOCAL_GIT_CACHE_DIR],
             stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL,
         )
+        subprocess.check_call(
+            ["git", "remote", "add", "origin", remote_url],
+            cwd=LOCAL_GIT_CACHE_DIR,
+        )
 
     if os.stat(LOCAL_GIT_CACHE_DIR).st_uid == 0:
         subprocess.check_call(["chown", "-R", "zulip:zulip", LOCAL_GIT_CACHE_DIR])