diff --git a/changelogs/unreleased/gitaly-repo-exists.yml b/changelogs/unreleased/gitaly-repo-exists.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a9eb42a2038865140f8218e5ca74399b58a74782
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/unreleased/gitaly-repo-exists.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+title: Make Gitaly RepositoryExists opt-out
+merge_request: 16680
+author:
+type: other
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/git/repository.rb b/lib/gitlab/git/repository.rb
index d6c0980255fcbb9f20649b037a75d3c707d7c424..6ecb3ad6c70865365371da6b3f9730de01f18023 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/git/repository.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/git/repository.rb
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ module Gitlab
       end
 
       def exists?
-        Gitlab::GitalyClient.migrate(:repository_exists) do |enabled|
+        Gitlab::GitalyClient.migrate(:repository_exists, status:  Gitlab::GitalyClient::MigrationStatus::OPT_OUT) do |enabled|
           if enabled
             gitaly_repository_client.exists?
           else