diff --git a/app/models/repository.rb b/app/models/repository.rb
index f717d24861536da5eccc0f078558dcb878ae166b..73c4899cb9b593bfbb7d62da2ac4dcc1c4422031 100644
--- a/app/models/repository.rb
+++ b/app/models/repository.rb
@@ -259,17 +259,7 @@ class Repository
     return if kept_around?(sha)
 
     # This will still fail if the file is corrupted (e.g. 0 bytes)
-    begin
-      raw_repository.write_ref(keep_around_ref_name(sha), sha, shell: false)
-    rescue Gitlab::Git::CommandError => ex
-      if ex.message.start_with?("ReferenceError: ")
-        Rails.logger.error "Unable to create #{REF_KEEP_AROUND} reference for repository #{path}: #{ex}"
-      elsif ex.message.start_with?("OSError: ")
-        raise unless ex.message =~ /Failed to create locked file/ && ex.message =~ /File exists/
-
-        Rails.logger.error "Unable to create #{REF_KEEP_AROUND} reference for repository #{path}: #{ex}"
-      end
-    end
+    raw_repository.write_ref(keep_around_ref_name(sha), sha, shell: false)
   end
 
   def kept_around?(sha)
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/git/repository.rb b/lib/gitlab/git/repository.rb
index e36ab2e32f677f9a225893dabf0c4e50da6eb2bb..27037af55c6b4c398d13cbcdf531cf4805b80e1b 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/git/repository.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/git/repository.rb
@@ -1395,9 +1395,11 @@ module Gitlab
       def rugged_write_ref(ref_path, ref)
         rugged.references.create(ref_path, ref, force: true)
       rescue Rugged::ReferenceError => ex
-        raise CommandError, "ReferenceError: #{ex}"
+        Rails.logger.error "Unable to create #{ref_path} reference for repository #{path}: #{ex}"
       rescue Rugged::OSError => ex
-        raise CommandError, "OSError: #{ex}"
+        raise unless ex.message =~ /Failed to create locked file/ && ex.message =~ /File exists/
+
+        Rails.logger.error "Unable to create #{ref_path} reference for repository #{path}: #{ex}"
       end
 
       def fresh_worktree?(path)