diff --git a/changelogs/unreleased/zj-opt-out-delete-refs.yml b/changelogs/unreleased/zj-opt-out-delete-refs.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b02a45eee17a88f4fb979a7b8cda61ac9e5796a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/unreleased/zj-opt-out-delete-refs.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+title: Bulk deleting refs is handled by Gitaly by default
+merge_request:
+author:
+type: performance
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/git/repository.rb b/lib/gitlab/git/repository.rb
index d16a096ffb96e8b935f3ca8c39a45f9a66c1db94..8d97bfb0e6ac256ef35bfa95a72000f5bd0b6ca3 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/git/repository.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/git/repository.rb
@@ -885,7 +885,8 @@ module Gitlab
       end
 
       def delete_refs(*ref_names)
-        gitaly_migrate(:delete_refs) do |is_enabled|
+        gitaly_migrate(:delete_refs,
+                      status: Gitlab::GitalyClient::MigrationStatus::OPT_OUT) do |is_enabled|
           if is_enabled
             gitaly_delete_refs(*ref_names)
           else