diff --git a/plugins/git/git-from-directory b/plugins/git/git-from-directory
index 03e7058de..771a7bba9 100755
--- a/plugins/git/git-from-directory
+++ b/plugins/git/git-from-directory
@@ -17,10 +17,9 @@ trigger-git-git-from-directory() {
   local TMP_WORK_DIR_2=$(mktemp -d "/tmp/dokku-${DOKKU_PID}-${FUNCNAME[0]}.XXXXXX")
   trap "rm -rf '$TMP_WORK_DIR' '$TMP_WORK_DIR_2' >/dev/null" RETURN INT TERM EXIT
 
-  local has_code=true
-  local git_objects="$(fn-git-cmd "$APP_ROOT" count-objects 2>/dev/null || true)"
-  if [[ -z "$git_objects" ]] || [[ "$git_objects" == "0 objects, 0 kilobytes" ]]; then
-    local has_code=false
+  local has_code=false
+  if fn-git-cmd "$APP_ROOT" rev-parse "$DOKKU_DEPLOY_BRANCH" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    has_code=true
   fi
 
   dokku_log_info1 "Updating git repository with specified build context"
diff --git a/plugins/git/internal-functions b/plugins/git/internal-functions
index 9675cb1e6..f5fb38507 100755
--- a/plugins/git/internal-functions
+++ b/plugins/git/internal-functions
@@ -208,14 +208,14 @@ cmd-git-sync() {
   fi
 
   local APP_ROOT="$DOKKU_ROOT/$APP"
-
   DOKKU_DEPLOY_BRANCH="$(fn-git-deploy-branch "$APP")"
   CURRENT_REF="$(fn-git-cmd "$APP_ROOT" rev-parse "$DOKKU_DEPLOY_BRANCH" 2>/dev/null || true)"
 
-  if [[ "$(fn-git-cmd "$APP_ROOT" count-objects)" == "0 objects, 0 kilobytes" ]]; then
+  if ! fn-git-cmd "$APP_ROOT" rev-parse "$DOKKU_DEPLOY_BRANCH" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     dokku_log_info1_quiet "Cloning $APP from $GIT_REMOTE#$GIT_REF"
     fn-git-clone "$APP" "$GIT_REMOTE" "$GIT_REF"
   else
+    dokku_log_verbose "Fetching remote code for $APP from $GIT_REMOTE#$GIT_REF"
     fn-git-fetch "$APP" "$GIT_REMOTE" "$GIT_REF"
   fi
 
@@ -376,7 +376,8 @@ fn-git-clone() {
   local APP_ROOT="$DOKKU_ROOT/$APP"
   [[ -z "$APP" ]] && dokku_log_fail "Please specify an app to run the command on"
 
-  if [[ "$(fn-git-cmd "$APP_ROOT" count-objects)" != "0 objects, 0 kilobytes" ]]; then
+  local DOKKU_DEPLOY_BRANCH="$(fn-git-deploy-branch "$APP")"
+  if fn-git-cmd "$APP_ROOT" rev-parse "$DOKKU_DEPLOY_BRANCH" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     dokku_log_fail "The clone subcommand can only be executed for new applications"
   fi
 
@@ -438,7 +439,8 @@ fn-git-fetch() {
   local DOKKU_DEPLOY_BRANCH
   local APP_ROOT="$DOKKU_ROOT/$APP"
 
-  if [[ "$(fn-git-cmd "$APP_ROOT" count-objects)" == "0 objects, 0 kilobytes" ]]; then
+  local DOKKU_DEPLOY_BRANCH="$(fn-git-deploy-branch "$APP")"
+  if ! fn-git-cmd "$APP_ROOT" rev-parse "$DOKKU_DEPLOY_BRANCH" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     dokku_log_fail "The fetch subcommand can only be executed for existing applications"
   fi
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/git_3.bats b/tests/unit/git_3.bats
index 042431ff6..1361181f0 100644
--- a/tests/unit/git_3.bats
+++ b/tests/unit/git_3.bats
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ teardown() {
 }
 
 @test "(git) git:sync existing [--no-build noarg]" {
-  run /bin/bash -c "dokku --trace git:sync $TEST_APP https://github.com/dokku/smoke-test-app.git 1.0.0"
+  run /bin/bash -c "dokku git:sync $TEST_APP https://github.com/dokku/smoke-test-app.git 1.0.0"
   echo "output: $output"
   echo "status: $status"
   assert_success
@@ -317,10 +317,11 @@ teardown() {
   assert_success
   assert_output_contains "$SMOKE_TEST_APP_1_0_0_SHA"
 
-  run /bin/bash -c "dokku --trace git:sync $TEST_APP https://github.com/dokku/smoke-test-app.git"
+  run /bin/bash -c "dokku git:sync $TEST_APP https://github.com/dokku/smoke-test-app.git"
   echo "output: $output"
   echo "status: $status"
   assert_success
+  assert_output_contains "Fetching remote code for"
 
   run /bin/bash -c "cat /home/dokku/$TEST_APP/refs/heads/master"
   echo "output: $output"