diff --git a/.changeset/six-weeks-grab.md b/.changeset/six-weeks-grab.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..1a7125331467
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/six-weeks-grab.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'create-astro': patch
+---
+
+Add support for running in cloned empty git repository
diff --git a/packages/create-astro/src/index.ts b/packages/create-astro/src/index.ts
index 186650d9e4e6..ee548f59d006 100644
--- a/packages/create-astro/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/create-astro/src/index.ts
@@ -43,6 +43,46 @@ function isEmpty(dirPath: string) {
 	return !fs.existsSync(dirPath) || fs.readdirSync(dirPath).length === 0;
 }
 
+// Some existing files and directories can be safely ignored when checking if a directory is a valid project directory.
+// https://github.com/facebook/create-react-app/blob/d960b9e38c062584ff6cfb1a70e1512509a966e7/packages/create-react-app/createReactApp.js#L907-L934
+const VALID_PROJECT_DIRECTORY_SAFE_LIST = [
+	'.DS_Store',
+	'.git',
+	'.gitattributes',
+	'.gitignore',
+	'.gitlab-ci.yml',
+	'.hg',
+	'.hgcheck',
+	'.hgignore',
+	'.idea',
+	'.npmignore',
+	'.travis.yml',
+	'.yarn',
+	'.yarnrc.yml',
+	'docs',
+	'LICENSE',
+	'mkdocs.yml',
+	'Thumbs.db',
+	/\.iml$/,
+	/^npm-debug\.log/,
+	/^yarn-debug\.log/,
+	/^yarn-error\.log/,
+];
+
+function isValidProjectDirectory(dirPath: string) {
+	if (!fs.existsSync(dirPath)) {
+		return true;
+	}
+
+	const conflicts = fs.readdirSync(dirPath).filter((content) => {
+		return !VALID_PROJECT_DIRECTORY_SAFE_LIST.some((safeContent) => {
+			return typeof safeContent === 'string' ? content === safeContent : safeContent.test(content);
+		});
+	});
+
+	return conflicts.length === 0;
+}
+
 const { version } = JSON.parse(
 	fs.readFileSync(new URL('../package.json', import.meta.url), 'utf-8')
 );
@@ -59,7 +99,7 @@ export async function main() {
 
 	let cwd = args['_'][2] as string;
 
-	if (cwd && isEmpty(cwd)) {
+	if (cwd && isValidProjectDirectory(cwd)) {
 		let acknowledgeProjectDir = ora({
 			color: 'green',
 			text: `Using ${bold(cwd)} as project directory.`,
@@ -67,10 +107,10 @@ export async function main() {
 		acknowledgeProjectDir.succeed();
 	}
 
-	if (!cwd || !isEmpty(cwd)) {
+	if (!cwd || !isValidProjectDirectory(cwd)) {
 		const notEmptyMsg = (dirPath: string) => `"${bold(dirPath)}" is not empty!`;
 
-		if (!isEmpty(cwd)) {
+		if (!isValidProjectDirectory(cwd)) {
 			let rejectProjectDir = ora({ color: 'red', text: notEmptyMsg(cwd) });
 			rejectProjectDir.fail();
 		}
@@ -81,7 +121,7 @@ export async function main() {
 				message: 'Where would you like to create your new project?',
 				initial: './my-astro-site',
 				validate(value) {
-					if (!isEmpty(value)) {
+					if (!isValidProjectDirectory(value)) {
 						return notEmptyMsg(value);
 					}
 					return true;
@@ -143,8 +183,10 @@ export async function main() {
 
 			// degit does not return an error when an invalid template is provided, as such we need to handle this manually
 			// It's not very pretty, but to the user eye, we just return a nice message and nothing weird happened
-			if (isEmpty(cwd)) {
-				fs.rmdirSync(cwd);
+			if (isValidProjectDirectory(cwd)) {
+				if (isEmpty(cwd)) {
+					fs.rmdirSync(cwd);
+				}
 				throw new Error(`Error: The provided template (${cyan(options.template)}) does not exist`);
 			}
 		} catch (err: any) {
diff --git a/packages/create-astro/test/directory-step.test.js b/packages/create-astro/test/directory-step.test.js
index 7c629598ad19..0031f97fd41e 100644
--- a/packages/create-astro/test/directory-step.test.js
+++ b/packages/create-astro/test/directory-step.test.js
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { PROMPT_MESSAGES, testDir, setup, promiseWithTimeout, timeout } from './
 
 const inputs = {
 	nonEmptyDir: './fixtures/select-directory/nonempty-dir',
+	nonEmptySafeDir: './fixtures/select-directory/nonempty-safe-dir',
 	emptyDir: './fixtures/select-directory/empty-dir',
 	nonexistentDir: './fixtures/select-directory/banana-dir',
 };
@@ -30,6 +31,16 @@ describe('[create-astro] select directory', function () {
 			});
 		});
 	});
+	it('should proceed on a non-empty safe directory', function () {
+		return promiseWithTimeout((resolve) => {
+			const { stdout } = setup([inputs.nonEmptySafeDir]);
+			stdout.on('data', (chunk) => {
+				if (chunk.includes(PROMPT_MESSAGES.template)) {
+					resolve();
+				}
+			});
+		});
+	});
 	it('should proceed on an empty directory', async function () {
 		const resolvedEmptyDirPath = path.resolve(testDir, inputs.emptyDir);
 		if (!existsSync(resolvedEmptyDirPath)) {
diff --git a/packages/create-astro/test/fixtures/select-directory/nonempty-safe-dir/.gitignore b/packages/create-astro/test/fixtures/select-directory/nonempty-safe-dir/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e69de29bb2d1
diff --git a/packages/create-astro/test/fixtures/select-directory/nonempty-safe-dir/module.iml b/packages/create-astro/test/fixtures/select-directory/nonempty-safe-dir/module.iml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e69de29bb2d1