diff --git a/t/100-init.t b/t/100-init.t
index 74facc02655ba9db6b733c754d6685b61d43813d..15ce922f0e32040dae47cb795653567b8a90a2b7 100644
--- a/t/100-init.t
+++ b/t/100-init.t
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ ok $output eq "", 'No repos set up yet.';
 
 $output = `./vcsh init test1`;
 
-ok $output eq "Initialized empty shared Git repository in " . $ENV{'HOME'} . "/.config/vcsh/repo.d/test1.git/\n";
+ok $output eq "Initialized empty Git repository in " . $ENV{'HOME'} . "/.config/vcsh/repo.d/test1.git/\n";
 
 $output = `./vcsh status`;
 
diff --git a/vcsh b/vcsh
index ff0ec2bb4d59bc60c301429ebf38d24d4fc75e65..ce6705d979916ae84dcf759efc9881bc546231d9 100755
--- a/vcsh
+++ b/vcsh
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@
 VERSION='1.20141026'
 SELF=$(basename $0)
 
+# Ensure all files created are accessible only to the current user.
+umask 0077
+
 fatal() {
 	echo "$SELF: fatal: $1" >&2
 	[ -z $2 ] && exit 1
@@ -262,7 +265,7 @@ init() {
 	[ ! -e "$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 --shared=0600
+	git init --shared=false
 	upgrade
 	hook post-init
 }