diff --git a/vcsh b/vcsh
index 9a5d5e04113dfd2bfaaa67cabf853e3c8276a6b8..c30b12d15edcb4bbc2b1dda41b67d3b47c9c5174 100755
--- a/vcsh
+++ b/vcsh
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ clone() {
 	[ x"$VCSH_CONFLICT" = x'1' ]) &&
 		fatal "will stop after fetching and not try to merge!
   Once this situation has been resolved, run 'vcsh $VCSH_REPO_NAME pull' to finish cloning." 17
-	git merge origin/"$VCSH_BRANCH"
+	git -c merge.ff=true merge origin/"$VCSH_BRANCH"
 	hook post-merge
 	hook post-clone
 	retire