diff --git a/src/utils/git.ts b/src/utils/git.ts
index 7d10117..3cc7c13 100644
--- a/src/utils/git.ts
+++ b/src/utils/git.ts
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ export async function cloneRepo(
       ]);
 
       const repoGit = simpleGit(repoPath);
+      await repoGit.raw(["config", "gc.auto", "0"]);
       await repoGit.raw(["sparse-checkout", "set", ...config.sparse]);
       await repoGit.fetch(["origin", config.commit]);
       await repoGit.checkout(config.commit);
@@ -87,6 +88,7 @@ export async function cloneRepo(
       ]);
 
       const repoGit = simpleGit(repoPath);
+      await repoGit.raw(["config", "gc.auto", "0"]);
       await repoGit.raw(["sparse-checkout", "set", ...config.sparse]);
       await repoGit.fetch(["--depth=1", "origin", `refs/tags/${config.tag}:refs/tags/${config.tag}`]);
       await repoGit.checkout(config.tag);
@@ -117,6 +119,7 @@ export async function cloneRepo(
       ]);
 
       const repoGit = simpleGit(repoPath);
+      await repoGit.raw(["config", "gc.auto", "0"]);
       await repoGit.raw(["sparse-checkout", "set", ...config.sparse]);
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/utils/git.test.ts b/tests/utils/git.test.ts
index 8b79f89..4f5175f 100644
--- a/tests/utils/git.test.ts
+++ b/tests/utils/git.test.ts
@@ -132,6 +132,7 @@ describe("cloneRepo", () => {
       expect.stringContaining("aztec-packages"),
       expect.arrayContaining(["--filter=blob:none", "--sparse", "--no-checkout"])
     );
+    expect(mockGitInstance.raw).toHaveBeenCalledWith(["config", "gc.auto", "0"]);
     expect(mockGitInstance.raw).toHaveBeenCalledWith([
       "sparse-checkout",
       "set",
@@ -240,6 +241,7 @@ describe("cloneRepo", () => {
       expect.any(String),
       expect.arrayContaining(["--filter=blob:none", "--sparse", "--no-checkout"])
     );
+    expect(mockGitInstance.raw).toHaveBeenCalledWith(["config", "gc.auto", "0"]);
     expect(mockGitInstance.fetch).toHaveBeenCalledWith(["origin", "abc123def"]);
     expect(mockGitInstance.checkout).toHaveBeenCalledWith("abc123def");
   });
@@ -256,6 +258,7 @@ describe("cloneRepo", () => {
       expect.any(String),
       expect.arrayContaining(["--filter=blob:none", "--sparse", "--depth=1", "-b", "master"])
     );
+    expect(mockGitInstance.raw).toHaveBeenCalledWith(["config", "gc.auto", "0"]);
   });
 
   it("non-sparse + tag: clones without sparse-checkout", async () => {