diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 6d3e0f5c407d718a6452c7f3fc8500cbb064b1d1..dc4e5aec6bbcd036590abf029e1ae3f17b3a1a65 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ deploy:
     - cd openharmony-readthedocs-aggregated
     - git checkout origin/main # only main for now - needs to match the rules
     - find . -maxdepth 1 -not -path ./.git -not -path . -exec rm -rf {} \;
-    - tar -c --dereference -C .. --exclude openharmony-readthedocs-aggregated --exclude ./.git --exclude ./.gitlab-ci.yml . | tar -x
+    - tar -c --dereference -C .. --exclude openharmony-readthedocs-aggregated --exclude ./.repo --exclude ./.git --exclude ./.gitlab-ci.yml . | tar -x
     # Commit and push back, if something changed.
     - |
       if [ -n "$(git status -s)" ]; then