diff --git a/internal/utils/git_ignore.go b/internal/utils/git_ignore.go
index 5eccd95..4902e86 100644
--- a/internal/utils/git_ignore.go
+++ b/internal/utils/git_ignore.go
@@ -27,6 +27,14 @@ func NewGitIgnore(baseDir string) GitIgnore {
 }
 
 func (i GitIgnore) SkipFile(path string) (bool, error) {
+	// Never skip the .git directory or files inside it, even if matched by .gitignore patterns.
+	if path == ".git" ||
+		strings.HasPrefix(path, ".git/") ||
+		strings.HasSuffix(path, "/.git") ||
+		strings.Contains(path, "/.git/") {
+		return false, nil
+	}
+
 	for _, ignorer := range []*ignore.GitIgnore{i.localGitIgnore, i.globalGitIgnore, i.gitInfoExclude} {
 		if ignorer != nil && ignorer.MatchesPath(path) {
 			return true, nil
diff --git a/internal/utils/git_ignore_test.go b/internal/utils/git_ignore_test.go
index febc8bc..a1f3635 100644
--- a/internal/utils/git_ignore_test.go
+++ b/internal/utils/git_ignore_test.go
@@ -47,6 +47,28 @@ func TestGitIgnore(t *testing.T) {
 		assertFileSkipped(t, &gitIgnore, "ignore/this/file.txt")
 		assertFileNotSkipped(t, &gitIgnore, "some/other/file.txt")
 	})
+
+	t.Run("never skip .git directory or files inside it", func(t *testing.T) {
+		tmpRepoDir := t.TempDir()
+		writeFile(t, filepath.Join(tmpRepoDir, ".gitignore"), ".git\n.git/*\n") // would match .git if we didn't special-case it
+		gitIgnore := NewGitIgnore(tmpRepoDir)
+
+		pathsThatMustNotBeSkipped := []string{
+			".git",
+			".git/HEAD",
+			".git/config",
+			".git/refs/heads/main",
+			"/Users/example/repo/.git",
+			"repo/.git",
+			"subdir/repo/.git/refs",
+		}
+		for _, path := range pathsThatMustNotBeSkipped {
+			path := path
+			t.Run(path, func(t *testing.T) {
+				assertFileNotSkipped(t, &gitIgnore, path)
+			})
+		}
+	})
 }
 
 func assertFileSkipped(t *testing.T, gitIgnore *GitIgnore, path string) {