diff -r b71c547e0dbe kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/git/repository.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/git/repository.py	Mon Oct 06 23:41:18 2025 +0200
+++ b/kallithea/lib/vcs/backends/git/repository.py	Fri Apr 24 13:09:23 2026 +0200
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 from dulwich.objects import Tag
 from dulwich.repo import NotGitRepository, Repo
 from dulwich.server import update_server_info
+from dulwich.refs import Ref
 
 from kallithea.lib.vcs import subprocessio
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.backends.base import BaseRepository, CollectionGenerator
@@ -87,12 +88,7 @@
         """
         Checks if repository is empty ie. without any changesets
         """
-
-        try:
-            self.revisions[0]
-        except (KeyError, IndexError):
-            return True
-        return False
+        return self.head is None
 
     @LazyProperty
     def revisions(self):
@@ -504,15 +500,12 @@
         return _refs
 
     def _heads(self, reverse=False):
-        refs = self._repo.get_refs()
+        refs = self._repo.refs.as_dict(Ref(b"refs/heads")) | self._repo.refs.as_dict(Ref(b"refs/remotes/origin"))
         heads = {}
 
         for key, val in refs.items():
-            for ref_key in [b'refs/heads/', b'refs/remotes/origin/']:
-                if key.startswith(ref_key):
-                    n = key[len(ref_key):]
-                    if n not in [b'HEAD']:
-                        heads[n] = val
+            if key not in [b'HEAD']:
+                heads[key] = val
 
         return heads if reverse else dict((y, x) for x, y in heads.items())