diff --git a/src/git.ts b/src/git.ts
index 8cb08752..e0e99011 100644
--- a/src/git.ts
+++ b/src/git.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,8 @@ export interface GitCommandResult {
 export interface GitEligibility {
   ok: boolean;
   gitRoot?: string;
-  reason?: "not_git" | "no_head";
+  hasHead?: boolean;
+  reason?: "not_git";
   message?: string;
 }
 
@@ -46,14 +47,13 @@ export async function getGitEligibility(cwd: string): Promise<GitEligibility> {
     await git(gitRoot, ["rev-parse", "--verify", "--quiet", "HEAD^{commit}"]);
   } catch {
     return {
-      ok: false,
+      ok: true,
       gitRoot,
-      reason: "no_head",
-      message: "repository has no HEAD commit",
+      hasHead: false,
     };
   }
 
-  return { ok: true, gitRoot };
+  return { ok: true, gitRoot, hasHead: true };
 }
 
 export function safeWorkspaceRefSegment(workspaceId: string): string {
diff --git a/src/review-checkpoints.test.ts b/src/review-checkpoints.test.ts
index 37ee2c55..1ed150d1 100644
--- a/src/review-checkpoints.test.ts
+++ b/src/review-checkpoints.test.ts
@@ -238,27 +238,25 @@ test("a concurrent review rejects a different root after initialization", async
   }
 });
 
-test("an unborn repository becomes reviewable after its first commit", async (t) => {
+test("an unborn repository is reviewable without creating a HEAD commit", async (t) => {
   const root = await unbornRepository(t);
+  await writeFile(join(root, "existing.txt"), "present at open\n");
   const manager = createReviewCheckpointManager();
 
-  await manager.initializeWorkspace({ workspaceId: "ws_unborn", root });
-  await assert.rejects(
-    () => manager.reviewChanges({ workspaceId: "ws_unborn", root }),
-    /repository has no HEAD commit/,
-  );
+  const availability = await manager.initializeWorkspace({ workspaceId: "ws_unborn", root });
+  assert.deepEqual(availability, { available: true });
+  await assert.rejects(() => git(root, ["rev-parse", "--verify", "HEAD^{commit}"]));
 
-  await writeFile(join(root, "README.md"), "first commit\n");
-  await git(root, ["add", "README.md"]);
-  await git(root, ["commit", "-m", "Initial commit"]);
+  await writeFile(join(root, "created-after-open.txt"), "new file\n");
 
-  const afterFirstCommit = await manager.reviewChanges({
+  const review = await manager.reviewChanges({
     workspaceId: "ws_unborn",
     root,
     markReviewed: false,
   });
-  assert.equal(afterFirstCommit.summary.files, 0);
-  assert.equal(afterFirstCommit.patch, "");
+  assert.deepEqual(review.files.map((file) => file.path), ["created-after-open.txt"]);
+  assert.equal(review.files[0]?.type, "new");
+  assert.match(review.patch, /new file/);
 });
 
 async function committedRepository(t: TestContext): Promise<string> {
diff --git a/src/review-checkpoints.ts b/src/review-checkpoints.ts
index 6f687275..1c43778c 100644
--- a/src/review-checkpoints.ts
+++ b/src/review-checkpoints.ts
@@ -230,7 +230,9 @@ async function initializeWorkspaceState(
     ]);
 
     if (!openCommit && !baselineCommit) {
-      const head = (await git(eligibility.gitRoot, ["rev-parse", "--verify", "HEAD^{commit}"])).stdout.trim();
+      const head = eligibility.hasHead
+        ? (await git(eligibility.gitRoot, ["rev-parse", "--verify", "HEAD^{commit}"])).stdout.trim()
+        : undefined;
       const initialCommit = await createWorkingTreeSnapshot(eligibility.gitRoot, head);
       await git(eligibility.gitRoot, ["update-ref", state.openRef, initialCommit]);
       await git(eligibility.gitRoot, ["update-ref", state.baselineRef, initialCommit]);
@@ -280,16 +282,19 @@ function reviewRefs(
   };
 }
 
-async function createWorkingTreeSnapshot(gitRoot: string, parent: string): Promise<string> {
+async function createWorkingTreeSnapshot(gitRoot: string, parent?: string): Promise<string> {
   const tempDir = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "devspace-review-index-"));
   const indexPath = join(tempDir, "index");
   const env = checkpointEnv(indexPath);
 
   try {
-    await git(gitRoot, ["read-tree", "HEAD"], { env });
+    await git(gitRoot, parent ? ["read-tree", parent] : ["read-tree", "--empty"], { env });
     await git(gitRoot, ["add", "-A", "--", "."], { env });
     const tree = (await git(gitRoot, ["write-tree"], { env })).stdout.trim();
-    return (await git(gitRoot, ["commit-tree", tree, "-p", parent, "-m", "DevSpace review snapshot"], { env })).stdout.trim();
+    const commitArgs = ["commit-tree", tree];
+    if (parent) commitArgs.push("-p", parent);
+    commitArgs.push("-m", "DevSpace review snapshot");
+    return (await git(gitRoot, commitArgs, { env })).stdout.trim();
   } finally {
     await rm(tempDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
   }