diff --git a/git/gitlab/gitlab.go b/git/gitlab/gitlab.go
index 0a5997c7..51e664d5 100644
--- a/git/gitlab/gitlab.go
+++ b/git/gitlab/gitlab.go
@@ -401,7 +401,8 @@ func (g *Gitlab) compareFiles() ([]manager.CommitFile, error) {
 		if err != nil {
 			// if the tree is not found it's probably just because there are no files at all currently...
 			// So we have to apply all pending ones.
-			if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "Tree Not Found") {
+			if errors.Is(err, gitlab.ErrNotFound) {
+				g.log.Info("ListTree got 404; most likely no files found in repository, applying all pending files")
 
 				for name, content := range g.ops.TemplateFiles {
 					if content != manager.DeletionMagicString {
diff --git a/git/gitlab/gitlab_test.go b/git/gitlab/gitlab_test.go
index cfab6be0..bda121de 100644
--- a/git/gitlab/gitlab_test.go
+++ b/git/gitlab/gitlab_test.go
@@ -435,7 +435,7 @@ func testGetCommitServer(t *testing.T, files []string) *httptest.Server {
 
 	mux.HandleFunc("/api/v4/projects/3/repository/tree", func(res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 		if len(files) == 0 {
-			_, _ = res.Write([]byte(`[]`))
+			res.WriteHeader(http.StatusNotFound)
 			return
 		}