diff --git a/pkg/gui/background.go b/pkg/gui/background.go
index 0272f0864..c9f0e3d40 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/background.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/background.go
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package gui
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"runtime"
-	"strings"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/jesseduffield/gocui"
@@ -76,21 +75,18 @@ func (self *BackgroundRoutineMgr) startBackgroundRoutines() {
 func (self *BackgroundRoutineMgr) startBackgroundFetch() {
 	self.gui.waitForIntro.Wait()
 
-	isNew := self.gui.IsNewRepo
+	fetch := func() error {
+		err := self.backgroundFetch()
+		self.gui.c.Render()
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// We want an immediate fetch at startup, and since goEvery starts by
+	// waiting for the interval, we need to trigger one manually first
+	_ = fetch()
+
 	userConfig := self.gui.UserConfig()
-	if !isNew {
-		time.After(time.Duration(userConfig.Refresher.FetchInterval) * time.Second)
-	}
-	err := self.backgroundFetch()
-	if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "exit status 128") && isNew {
-		self.gui.c.Alert(self.gui.c.Tr.NoAutomaticGitFetchTitle, self.gui.c.Tr.NoAutomaticGitFetchBody)
-	} else {
-		self.goEvery(time.Second*time.Duration(userConfig.Refresher.FetchInterval), self.gui.stopChan, func() error {
-			err := self.backgroundFetch()
-			self.gui.c.Render()
-			return err
-		})
-	}
+	self.goEvery(time.Second*time.Duration(userConfig.Refresher.FetchInterval), self.gui.stopChan, fetch)
 }
 
 func (self *BackgroundRoutineMgr) startBackgroundFilesRefresh(refreshInterval int) {