diff --git a/pkg/commands/git_cmd_obj_runner.go b/pkg/commands/git_cmd_obj_runner.go
index fd98bc84f7a..a127e6a0631 100644
--- a/pkg/commands/git_cmd_obj_runner.go
+++ b/pkg/commands/git_cmd_obj_runner.go
@@ -20,6 +20,14 @@ type gitCmdObjRunner struct {
 	innerRunner oscommands.ICmdObjRunner
 }
 
+// isRetryableError returns true if the error output indicates a transient
+// lock-related error that may succeed on retry
+func isRetryableError(output string) bool {
+	return strings.Contains(output, ".git/index.lock") ||
+		strings.Contains(output, "cannot lock ref") ||
+		strings.Contains(output, "cannot update ref")
+}
+
 func (self *gitCmdObjRunner) Run(cmdObj *oscommands.CmdObj) error {
 	_, err := self.RunWithOutput(cmdObj)
 	return err
@@ -32,12 +40,12 @@ func (self *gitCmdObjRunner) RunWithOutput(cmdObj *oscommands.CmdObj) (string, e
 		newCmdObj := cmdObj.Clone()
 		output, err = self.innerRunner.RunWithOutput(newCmdObj)
 
-		if err == nil || !strings.Contains(output, ".git/index.lock") {
+		if err == nil || !isRetryableError(output) {
 			return output, err
 		}
 
-		// if we have an error based on the index lock, we should wait a bit and then retry
-		self.log.Warn("index.lock prevented command from running. Retrying command after a small wait")
+		// if we have an error based on a lock, we should wait a bit and then retry
+		self.log.Warn("lock error prevented command from running. Retrying command after a small wait")
 		time.Sleep(WaitTime)
 	}
 
@@ -51,12 +59,12 @@ func (self *gitCmdObjRunner) RunWithOutputs(cmdObj *oscommands.CmdObj) (string,
 		newCmdObj := cmdObj.Clone()
 		stdout, stderr, err = self.innerRunner.RunWithOutputs(newCmdObj)
 
-		if err == nil || !strings.Contains(stdout+stderr, ".git/index.lock") {
+		if err == nil || !isRetryableError(stdout+stderr) {
 			return stdout, stderr, err
 		}
 
-		// if we have an error based on the index lock, we should wait a bit and then retry
-		self.log.Warn("index.lock prevented command from running. Retrying command after a small wait")
+		// if we have an error based on a lock, we should wait a bit and then retry
+		self.log.Warn("lock error prevented command from running. Retrying command after a small wait")
 		time.Sleep(WaitTime)
 	}