diff --git a/packages/create-payload-app/package.json b/packages/create-payload-app/package.json
index b51293da60..8170d02899 100644
--- a/packages/create-payload-app/package.json
+++ b/packages/create-payload-app/package.json
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@
     "@types/esprima": "^4.0.6",
     "@types/fs-extra": "^9.0.12",
     "@types/jest": "^27.0.3",
-    "@types/node": "20.12.5"
+    "@types/node": "20.12.5",
+    "temp-dir": "2.0.0"
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/create-payload-app/src/lib/create-project.spec.ts b/packages/create-payload-app/src/lib/create-project.spec.ts
index ba57302e07..d9a91a3d12 100644
--- a/packages/create-payload-app/src/lib/create-project.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/create-payload-app/src/lib/create-project.spec.ts
@@ -2,25 +2,22 @@ import fse from 'fs-extra'
 import path from 'path'
 import type { CliArgs, DbType, ProjectTemplate } from '../types.js'
 import { createProject } from './create-project.js'
-import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url'
 import { dbReplacements } from './packages.js'
 import { getValidTemplates } from './templates.js'
 import globby from 'globby'
 
-const filename = fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)
-const dirname = path.dirname(filename)
+import tempDirectory from 'temp-dir'
 
-const projectDir = path.resolve(dirname, './tmp')
 describe('createProject', () => {
+  let projectDir: string
   beforeAll(() => {
     console.log = jest.fn()
   })
 
   beforeEach(() => {
-    if (fse.existsSync(projectDir)) {
-      fse.rmdirSync(projectDir, { recursive: true })
-    }
+    projectDir = `${tempDirectory}/${Math.random().toString(36).substring(7)}`
   })
+
   afterEach(() => {
     if (fse.existsSync(projectDir)) {
       fse.rmSync(projectDir, { recursive: true })
@@ -100,6 +97,9 @@ describe('createProject', () => {
         const packageJsonPath = path.resolve(projectDir, 'package.json')
         const packageJson = fse.readJsonSync(packageJsonPath)
 
+        // Verify git was initialized
+        expect(fse.existsSync(path.resolve(projectDir, '.git'))).toBe(true)
+
         // Should only have one db adapter
         expect(
           Object.keys(packageJson.dependencies).filter((n) => n.startsWith('@payloadcms/db-')),
diff --git a/packages/create-payload-app/src/lib/create-project.ts b/packages/create-payload-app/src/lib/create-project.ts
index 7114320c2b..73f82980c4 100644
--- a/packages/create-payload-app/src/lib/create-project.ts
+++ b/packages/create-payload-app/src/lib/create-project.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import path from 'path'
 
 import type { CliArgs, DbDetails, PackageManager, ProjectTemplate } from '../types.js'
 
+import { tryInitRepoAndCommit } from '../utils/git.js'
 import { debug, error, warning } from '../utils/log.js'
 import { configurePayloadConfig } from './configure-payload-config.js'
 
@@ -108,6 +109,10 @@ export async function createProject(args: {
   } else {
     spinner.stop('Dependency installation skipped')
   }
+
+  if (!cliArgs['--no-git']) {
+    tryInitRepoAndCommit({ cwd: projectDir })
+  }
 }
 
 export async function updatePackageJSON(args: {
diff --git a/packages/create-payload-app/src/main.ts b/packages/create-payload-app/src/main.ts
index f32e14f756..9067ae9a29 100644
--- a/packages/create-payload-app/src/main.ts
+++ b/packages/create-payload-app/src/main.ts
@@ -53,6 +53,9 @@ export class Main {
         '--use-pnpm': Boolean,
         '--use-yarn': Boolean,
 
+        // Other
+        '--no-git': Boolean,
+
         // Flags
         '--beta': Boolean,
         '--debug': Boolean,
diff --git a/packages/create-payload-app/src/types.ts b/packages/create-payload-app/src/types.ts
index 7d7febde79..d981538026 100644
--- a/packages/create-payload-app/src/types.ts
+++ b/packages/create-payload-app/src/types.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ export interface Args extends arg.Spec {
   '--local-template': StringConstructor
   '--name': StringConstructor
   '--no-deps': BooleanConstructor
+  '--no-git': BooleanConstructor
   '--secret': StringConstructor
   '--template': StringConstructor
   '--template-branch': StringConstructor
diff --git a/packages/create-payload-app/src/utils/git.ts b/packages/create-payload-app/src/utils/git.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..08b76b54d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/create-payload-app/src/utils/git.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+import type { ExecSyncOptions } from 'child_process'
+
+import { execSync } from 'child_process'
+
+import { warning } from './log.js'
+
+export function tryInitRepoAndCommit(args: { cwd: string }): void {
+  const execOpts: ExecSyncOptions = { cwd: args.cwd, stdio: 'ignore' }
+  try {
+    // Check if git is available
+    execSync('git -v', execOpts)
+
+    // Do nothing if already in a git repo
+    if (isGitRepo(execOpts)) {
+      return
+    }
+
+    // Initialize
+    execSync('git init', execOpts)
+    if (!ensureHasDefaultBranch(execOpts)) {
+      execSync('git checkout -b main', execOpts)
+    }
+
+    // Add and commit files
+    execSync('git add -A', execOpts)
+    execSync('git commit -m "feat: initial commit"', execOpts)
+  } catch (_) {
+    warning('Failed to initialize git repository.')
+  }
+}
+
+function isGitRepo(opts: ExecSyncOptions): boolean {
+  try {
+    execSync('git rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree', opts)
+    return true
+  } catch (_) {
+    // Ignore errors
+  }
+  return false
+}
+
+function ensureHasDefaultBranch(opts: ExecSyncOptions): boolean {
+  try {
+    execSync(`git config init.defaultBranch`, opts)
+    return true
+  } catch (_) {
+    // Ignore errros
+  }
+  return false
+}
diff --git a/pnpm-lock.yaml b/pnpm-lock.yaml
index 114922ee5b..95e31783b7 100644
--- a/pnpm-lock.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-lock.yaml
@@ -328,6 +328,9 @@ importers:
       '@types/node':
         specifier: 20.12.5
         version: 20.12.5
+      temp-dir:
+        specifier: 2.0.0
+        version: 2.0.0
 
   packages/db-mongodb:
     dependencies: