diff --git a/services/repository/generate.go b/services/repository/generate.go
index 83e9c22e54..fb747067f9 100644
--- a/services/repository/generate.go
+++ b/services/repository/generate.go
@@ -207,6 +207,9 @@ func processGiteaTemplateFile(ctx context.Context, tmpDir string, templateRepo,
 }
 
 func generateRepoCommit(ctx context.Context, repo, templateRepo, generateRepo *repo_model.Repository, tmpDir string) error {
+	// set default branch based on whether it's specified in the newly generated repo or not
+	repo.DefaultBranch = util.IfZero(repo.DefaultBranch, templateRepo.DefaultBranch)
+
 	// Clone to temporary path and do the init commit.
 	if err := gitrepo.CloneRepoToLocal(ctx, templateRepo, tmpDir, git.CloneRepoOptions{
 		Depth:  1,
@@ -246,13 +249,7 @@ func generateRepoCommit(ctx context.Context, repo, templateRepo, generateRepo *r
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to add submodules: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	// set default branch based on whether it's specified in the newly generated repo or not
-	defaultBranch := repo.DefaultBranch
-	if strings.TrimSpace(defaultBranch) == "" {
-		defaultBranch = templateRepo.DefaultBranch
-	}
-
-	return initRepoCommit(ctx, tmpDir, repo, repo.Owner, defaultBranch)
+	return initRepoCommit(ctx, tmpDir, repo, repo.Owner, repo.DefaultBranch)
 }
 
 // GenerateGitContent generates git content from a template repository
@@ -266,17 +263,6 @@ func GenerateGitContent(ctx context.Context, templateRepo, generateRepo *repo_mo
 	if err = generateRepoCommit(ctx, generateRepo, templateRepo, generateRepo, tmpDir); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("generateRepoCommit: %w", err)
 	}
-
-	// re-fetch repo
-	if generateRepo, err = repo_model.GetRepositoryByID(ctx, generateRepo.ID); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("getRepositoryByID: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	// if there was no default branch supplied when generating the repo, use the default one from the template
-	if strings.TrimSpace(generateRepo.DefaultBranch) == "" {
-		generateRepo.DefaultBranch = templateRepo.DefaultBranch
-	}
-
 	if err = gitrepo.SetDefaultBranch(ctx, generateRepo, generateRepo.DefaultBranch); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("setDefaultBranch: %w", err)
 	}
@@ -291,6 +277,9 @@ func GenerateGitContent(ctx context.Context, templateRepo, generateRepo *repo_mo
 	if err := git_model.CopyLFS(ctx, generateRepo, templateRepo); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to copy LFS: %w", err)
 	}
+	if _, err := repo_module.SyncRepoBranches(ctx, generateRepo.ID, 0); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("SyncRepoBranches: %w", err)
+	}
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/integration/api_repo_test.go b/tests/integration/api_repo_test.go
index deacd68a49..263243f0fa 100644
--- a/tests/integration/api_repo_test.go
+++ b/tests/integration/api_repo_test.go
@@ -671,6 +671,16 @@ func TestAPIGenerateRepo(t *testing.T) {
 
 	templateRepo := unittest.AssertExistsAndLoadBean(t, &repo_model.Repository{ID: 44})
 
+	assertGeneratedRepoIsUsable := func(t *testing.T, ownerName string, repo *api.Repository) {
+		t.Helper()
+		assert.NotEmpty(t, repo.DefaultBranch)
+
+		req := NewRequestf(t, "GET", "/api/v1/repos/%s/%s/branches/%s", ownerName, repo.Name, repo.DefaultBranch).AddTokenAuth(token)
+		resp := MakeRequest(t, req, http.StatusOK)
+		branch := DecodeJSON(t, resp, &api.Branch{})
+		assert.Equal(t, repo.DefaultBranch, branch.Name)
+	}
+
 	// user
 	repo := new(api.Repository)
 	req := NewRequestWithJSON(t, "POST", fmt.Sprintf("/api/v1/repos/%s/%s/generate", templateRepo.OwnerName, templateRepo.Name), &api.GenerateRepoOption{
@@ -684,6 +694,7 @@ func TestAPIGenerateRepo(t *testing.T) {
 	DecodeJSON(t, resp, repo)
 
 	assert.Equal(t, "new-repo", repo.Name)
+	assertGeneratedRepoIsUsable(t, user.Name, repo)
 
 	// org
 	req = NewRequestWithJSON(t, "POST", fmt.Sprintf("/api/v1/repos/%s/%s/generate", templateRepo.OwnerName, templateRepo.Name), &api.GenerateRepoOption{
@@ -697,6 +708,7 @@ func TestAPIGenerateRepo(t *testing.T) {
 	DecodeJSON(t, resp, repo)
 
 	assert.Equal(t, "new-repo", repo.Name)
+	assertGeneratedRepoIsUsable(t, "org3", repo)
 }
 
 func TestAPIRepoGetReviewers(t *testing.T) {