diff --git a/vcsh b/vcsh
index 5d502e7c68f372a427f0ad68e62bc8938899cead..993c8ed3443cfd1300687a9f705540e63ed9199c 100755
--- a/vcsh
+++ b/vcsh
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ init() {
 	[ ! -e "$GIT_DIR" ] || fatal "'$GIT_DIR' exists" 10
 	mkdir -p "$VCSH_BASE" || fatal "could not create '$VCSH_BASE'" 50
 	cd "$VCSH_BASE" || fatal "could not enter '$VCSH_BASE'" 11
-	git init
+	git init --shared=0600
 	upgrade
 	hook post-init
 }