diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/src/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/Push.java b/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/src/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/Push.java
index 1a4b5525b..98af186b2 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/src/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/Push.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/src/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/Push.java
@@ -130,7 +130,9 @@ class Push extends TextBuiltin {
 			push.setThin(thin);
 			push.setAtomic(atomic);
 			push.setTimeout(timeout);
-			push.setPushOptions(pushOptions);
+			if (!pushOptions.isEmpty()) {
+				push.setPushOptions(pushOptions);
+			}
 			Iterable<PushResult> results = push.call();
 			for (PushResult result : results) {
 				try (ObjectReader reader = db.newObjectReader()) {