diff --git a/pkg/gui/background.go b/pkg/gui/background.go
index 0272f0864ef..c9f0e3d40f9 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
-	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
-		})
+	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()
+	self.goEvery(time.Second*time.Duration(userConfig.Refresher.FetchInterval), self.gui.stopChan, fetch)
 }
 
 func (self *BackgroundRoutineMgr) startBackgroundFilesRefresh(refreshInterval int) {
diff --git a/pkg/gui/gui.go b/pkg/gui/gui.go
index 4d5f625d9fe..1faeb85e4c0 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/gui.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/gui.go
@@ -108,8 +108,6 @@ type Gui struct {
 
 	PopupHandler types.IPopupHandler
 
-	IsNewRepo bool
-
 	IsRefreshingFiles bool
 
 	// we use this to decide whether we'll return to the original directory that
diff --git a/pkg/gui/recent_repos_panel.go b/pkg/gui/recent_repos_panel.go
index 0f2f2c7049c..ba6bc8ce133 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/recent_repos_panel.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/recent_repos_panel.go
@@ -21,8 +21,7 @@ func (gui *Gui) updateRecentRepoList() error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	known, recentRepos := newRecentReposList(recentRepos, currentRepo)
-	gui.IsNewRepo = known
+	recentRepos = newRecentReposList(recentRepos, currentRepo)
 	// TODO: migrate this file to use forward slashes on all OSes for consistency
 	// (windows uses backslashes at the moment)
 	gui.c.GetAppState().RecentRepos = recentRepos
@@ -30,8 +29,7 @@ func (gui *Gui) updateRecentRepoList() error {
 }
 
 // newRecentReposList returns a new repo list with a new entry but only when it doesn't exist yet
-func newRecentReposList(recentRepos []string, currentRepo string) (bool, []string) {
-	isNew := true
+func newRecentReposList(recentRepos []string, currentRepo string) []string {
 	newRepos := []string{currentRepo}
 	for _, repo := range recentRepos {
 		if repo != currentRepo {
@@ -39,9 +37,7 @@ func newRecentReposList(recentRepos []string, currentRepo string) (bool, []strin
 				continue
 			}
 			newRepos = append(newRepos, repo)
-		} else {
-			isNew = false
 		}
 	}
-	return isNew, newRepos
+	return newRepos
 }
diff --git a/pkg/i18n/english.go b/pkg/i18n/english.go
index aa942093b8b..2b233cd70b2 100644
--- a/pkg/i18n/english.go
+++ b/pkg/i18n/english.go
@@ -249,8 +249,6 @@ type TranslationSet struct {
 	NoBranchOnRemote                      string
 	Fetch                                 string
 	FetchTooltip                          string
-	NoAutomaticGitFetchTitle              string
-	NoAutomaticGitFetchBody               string
 	FileEnter                             string
 	FileEnterTooltip                      string
 	FileStagingRequirements               string
@@ -1235,8 +1233,6 @@ func EnglishTranslationSet() *TranslationSet {
 		NoBranchOnRemote:                     `This branch doesn't exist on remote. You need to push it to remote first.`,
 		Fetch:                                `Fetch`,
 		FetchTooltip:                         "Fetch changes from remote.",
-		NoAutomaticGitFetchTitle:             `No automatic git fetch`,
-		NoAutomaticGitFetchBody:              `Lazygit can't use "git fetch" in a private repo; use 'f' in the files panel to run "git fetch" manually`,
 		FileEnter:                            `Stage lines / Collapse directory`,
 		FileEnterTooltip:                     "If the selected item is a file, focus the staging view so you can stage individual hunks/lines. If the selected item is a directory, collapse/expand it.",
 		FileStagingRequirements:              `Can only stage individual lines for tracked files`,