diff --git a/pv2/util/gitutil.py b/pv2/util/gitutil.py
index 504d7b4..f66cbc1 100644
--- a/pv2/util/gitutil.py
+++ b/pv2/util/gitutil.py
@@ -153,5 +153,9 @@ def lsremote(url):
 
     for ref in git_cmd.ls_remote(url).split('\n'):
         hash_ref_list = ref.split('\t')
-        remote_refs[hash_ref_list[1]] = hash_ref_list[0]
+        # Solves "IndexError: list index out of range" error when working
+        # with a completely empty Gitlab repository.
+        # (Initialized without README in the web interface)
+        if len(hash_ref_list) > 1:
+            remote_refs[hash_ref_list[1]] = hash_ref_list[0]
     return remote_refs