diff --git a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/native-git-bridge.ts b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/native-git-bridge.ts
index 46f438110..ccc82bfcc 100644
--- a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/native-git-bridge.ts
+++ b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/native-git-bridge.ts
@@ -207,7 +207,9 @@ export function nativeDetectMainBranch(basePath: string): string {
 /**
  * Check if a local branch exists.
  * Native: checks refs/heads/<name> via libgit2.
- * Fallback: `git show-ref --verify`.
+ * Fallback: `git show-ref --verify`, with unborn-branch detection
+ * so that the current branch in a zero-commit repo is treated as
+ * existing (fixes #1771).
  */
 export function nativeBranchExists(basePath: string, branch: string): boolean {
   const native = loadNative();
@@ -215,7 +217,12 @@ export function nativeBranchExists(basePath: string, branch: string): boolean {
     return native.gitBranchExists(basePath, branch);
   }
   const result = gitExec(basePath, ["show-ref", "--verify", `refs/heads/${branch}`], true);
-  return result !== "";
+  if (result !== "") return true;
+
+  // show-ref fails for unborn branches (zero commits). Fall back to checking
+  // whether the requested branch is the current (unborn) branch.
+  const current = gitExec(basePath, ["branch", "--show-current"], true);
+  return current === branch;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/tests/unborn-branch.test.ts b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/tests/unborn-branch.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..65743a84f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/tests/unborn-branch.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+/**
+ * unborn-branch.test.ts — Regression test for #1771.
+ *
+ * Verifies that nativeBranchExists returns true for the current branch
+ * in a repo with zero commits (unborn branch). Previously, show-ref
+ * would fail for unborn branches, causing a dispatch deadlock when
+ * the branch was recorded as integration branch but could never be
+ * verified.
+ */
+
+import test from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { mkdtempSync, rmSync, realpathSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { execFileSync } from "node:child_process";
+
+import { nativeBranchExists } from "../native-git-bridge.ts";
+
+function git(args: string[], cwd: string): string {
+  return execFileSync("git", args, {
+    cwd,
+    stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "pipe"],
+    encoding: "utf-8",
+  }).trim();
+}
+
+test("nativeBranchExists: returns true for unborn branch (zero commits)", () => {
+  const dir = realpathSync(mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "unborn-branch-test-")));
+  try {
+    git(["init"], dir);
+    git(["config", "user.email", "test@test.com"], dir);
+    git(["config", "user.name", "Test"], dir);
+
+    // Repo has zero commits — HEAD exists but points to refs/heads/main
+    // which does not yet exist in the ref store.
+    const currentBranch = git(["branch", "--show-current"], dir);
+    assert.ok(currentBranch, "git branch --show-current should return a branch name");
+
+    // This is the bug: nativeBranchExists would return false because
+    // show-ref --verify fails on an unborn branch.
+    const exists = nativeBranchExists(dir, currentBranch);
+    assert.strictEqual(exists, true, "unborn current branch should be treated as existing");
+  } finally {
+    rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
+
+test("nativeBranchExists: returns false for non-existent branch in unborn repo", () => {
+  const dir = realpathSync(mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "unborn-branch-test-")));
+  try {
+    git(["init"], dir);
+    git(["config", "user.email", "test@test.com"], dir);
+    git(["config", "user.name", "Test"], dir);
+
+    // A branch that is NOT the current unborn branch should still return false.
+    const exists = nativeBranchExists(dir, "nonexistent-branch");
+    assert.strictEqual(exists, false, "non-current branch should not exist in unborn repo");
+  } finally {
+    rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
+
+test("nativeBranchExists: still works for real branches with commits", () => {
+  const dir = realpathSync(mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "unborn-branch-test-")));
+  try {
+    git(["init"], dir);
+    git(["config", "user.email", "test@test.com"], dir);
+    git(["config", "user.name", "Test"], dir);
+    writeFileSync(join(dir, "file.txt"), "test\n");
+    git(["add", "."], dir);
+    git(["commit", "-m", "init"], dir);
+
+    // After a commit, the branch exists in refs and should return true.
+    const currentBranch = git(["branch", "--show-current"], dir);
+    const exists = nativeBranchExists(dir, currentBranch);
+    assert.strictEqual(exists, true, "branch with commits should exist");
+
+    // Non-existent branch should still return false.
+    const noExists = nativeBranchExists(dir, "no-such-branch");
+    assert.strictEqual(noExists, false, "non-existent branch should not exist");
+  } finally {
+    rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});