diff --git a/recipes/recipe_modules/bot_update/resources/bot_update.py b/recipes/recipe_modules/bot_update/resources/bot_update.py
index 9c8a9ba4a..61004ca61 100755
--- a/recipes/recipe_modules/bot_update/resources/bot_update.py
+++ b/recipes/recipe_modules/bot_update/resources/bot_update.py
@@ -682,7 +682,9 @@ def _git_checkout(sln, sln_dir, revisions, shallow, refs, git_cache_dir,
       if not path.isdir(sln_dir):
         git('clone', '--no-checkout', '--local', '--shared', mirror_dir,
             sln_dir)
+        _git_disable_gc(sln_dir)
       else:
+        _git_disable_gc(sln_dir)
         git('remote', 'set-url', 'origin', mirror_dir, cwd=sln_dir)
         git('fetch', 'origin', cwd=sln_dir)
       for ref in refs:
@@ -708,6 +710,10 @@ def _git_checkout(sln, sln_dir, revisions, shallow, refs, git_cache_dir,
       else:
         raise
 
+def _git_disable_gc(cwd):
+  git('config', 'gc.autodetach', '0', cwd=cwd)
+  git('config', 'gc.autopacklimit', '0', cwd=cwd)
+
 
 def _download(url):
   """Fetch url and return content, with retries for flake."""