diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/cmd/update.rb b/Library/Homebrew/cmd/update.rb
index 944e7304a9e7..f810acda0cb7 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/cmd/update.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/cmd/update.rb
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ def update
 
 class RefreshBrew
   REPOSITORY_URL   = "http://github.com/mxcl/homebrew.git"
-  INIT_COMMAND     = "git init"
   CHECKOUT_COMMAND = "git checkout -q master"
   UPDATE_COMMAND   = "git pull #{REPOSITORY_URL} master"
   REVISION_COMMAND = "git rev-parse HEAD"
@@ -40,7 +39,14 @@ def update_from_masterbrew!
         safe_system CHECKOUT_COMMAND
         @initial_revision = read_revision
       else
-        safe_system INIT_COMMAND
+        begin
+          safe_system "git init"
+          safe_system "git fetch #{REPOSITORY_URL}"
+          safe_system "git reset FETCH_HEAD"
+        rescue Exception
+          safe_system "rm -rf .git"
+          raise
+        end
       end
       execute(UPDATE_COMMAND)
       @current_revision = read_revision