diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/upstream-sync.yml b/.gitea/workflows/upstream-sync.yml
index 69d1d668d2..10487d3013 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/upstream-sync.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/upstream-sync.yml
@@ -54,6 +54,11 @@ jobs:
           set -euo pipefail
           git config user.name "sulkta-bot"
           git config user.email "bot@sulkta.com"
+          # git-lfs pre-push hook refuses incomplete pushes — which triggers
+          # here because we skipped LFS smudge on checkout, so local LFS
+          # objects are absent. We're only pushing branch pointers (no new
+          # LFS content), so allow incomplete.
+          git config lfs.allowincompletepush true
           OLD=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)
           echo "main was at $OLD"
           if git merge --ff-only upstream/develop; then