diff --git a/tests/e2e/global-setup.ts b/tests/e2e/global-setup.ts
index 24474fc8657..05de880d5f8 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/global-setup.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/global-setup.ts
@@ -90,6 +90,13 @@ export default function globalSetup(): void {
     prepareDockerSshHostImage(root)
   }
 
+  const testRepoDir = seedTestRepository()
+  writeFileSync(TEST_REPO_PATH_FILE, testRepoDir)
+  console.error(`[e2e] Test repo created at ${testRepoDir}`)
+}
+
+// Shared by global setup and worker fallbacks so both seed paths stay identical.
+export function seedTestRepository(): string {
   // Resolve macOS /var symlinks like git does when registering repo.path.
   const testRepoDir = realpathSync(mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'orca-e2e-repo-')))
 
@@ -112,16 +119,18 @@ export default function globalSetup(): void {
   writeFileSync(path.join(testRepoDir, 'src', 'diff-note-layout.ts'), 'export const seed = true\n')
 
   execSync('git add -A', { cwd: testRepoDir, stdio: 'pipe' })
-  execSync('git commit -m "Initial commit for E2E tests"', { cwd: testRepoDir, stdio: 'pipe' })
-
-  // Seed a second worktree so retention/switching specs run instead of skipping.
-  const worktreeDir = path.join(testRepoDir, '..', `orca-e2e-worktree-${randomUUID()}`)
-  execSync(`git worktree add "${worktreeDir}" -b e2e-secondary`, {
+  // Why: per-command -c so contributor global hooks/signing can't fail the seed without persisting into repo config.
+  const isolatedGit = 'git -c core.hooksPath=/dev/null -c commit.gpgsign=false'
+  execSync(`${isolatedGit} commit -m "Initial commit for E2E tests"`, {
     cwd: testRepoDir,
     stdio: 'pipe'
   })
-  console.error(`[e2e] Secondary worktree created at ${worktreeDir}`)
 
-  writeFileSync(TEST_REPO_PATH_FILE, testRepoDir)
-  console.error(`[e2e] Test repo created at ${testRepoDir}`)
+  // Seed a second worktree so retention/switching specs run; UUIDs keep concurrent workers apart.
+  const worktreeDir = path.join(testRepoDir, '..', `orca-e2e-worktree-${randomUUID()}`)
+  execSync(`${isolatedGit} worktree add "${worktreeDir}" -b e2e-secondary`, {
+    cwd: testRepoDir,
+    stdio: 'pipe'
+  })
+  return testRepoDir
 }
diff --git a/tests/e2e/helpers/seeded-test-repo.ts b/tests/e2e/helpers/seeded-test-repo.ts
index 1334ce32003..5c02c6e7357 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/helpers/seeded-test-repo.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/helpers/seeded-test-repo.ts
@@ -1,17 +1,6 @@
-import {
-  existsSync,
-  mkdirSync,
-  mkdtempSync,
-  readFileSync,
-  realpathSync,
-  rmSync,
-  writeFileSync
-} from 'node:fs'
+import { existsSync, readFileSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs'
 import { execSync } from 'node:child_process'
-import { randomUUID } from 'node:crypto'
-import os from 'node:os'
-import path from 'node:path'
-import { TEST_REPO_PATH_FILE } from '../global-setup'
+import { seedTestRepository, TEST_REPO_PATH_FILE } from '../global-setup'
 import { cleanupTestRepository } from '../global-teardown'
 
 export async function provideWorkerTestRepository(
@@ -50,37 +39,7 @@ export function isValidGitRepo(repoPath: string): boolean {
 }
 
 export function createSeededTestRepo(options: { publishPath?: boolean } = {}): string {
-  // Canonicalize macOS /var symlinks to match Git’s repo.path after add.
-  const testRepoDir = realpathSync(mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'orca-e2e-repo-')))
-
-  execSync('git init', { cwd: testRepoDir, stdio: 'pipe' })
-  execSync('git config user.email "e2e@test.local"', { cwd: testRepoDir, stdio: 'pipe' })
-  execSync('git config user.name "E2E Test"', { cwd: testRepoDir, stdio: 'pipe' })
-
-  writeFileSync(
-    path.join(testRepoDir, 'README.md'),
-    '# Orca E2E Test Repo\n\nThis repo was created automatically for Playwright tests.\n'
-  )
-  writeFileSync(path.join(testRepoDir, 'CLAUDE.md'), '# CLAUDE.md\n\nTest instructions for E2E.\n')
-  writeFileSync(
-    path.join(testRepoDir, 'package.json'),
-    `${JSON.stringify({ name: 'orca-e2e-test', version: '0.0.0', private: true }, null, 2)}\n`
-  )
-  writeFileSync(path.join(testRepoDir, '.gitignore'), 'node_modules/\n')
-  mkdirSync(path.join(testRepoDir, 'src'), { recursive: true })
-  writeFileSync(path.join(testRepoDir, 'src', 'index.ts'), 'export const hello = "world"\n')
-  writeFileSync(path.join(testRepoDir, 'src', 'diff-note-layout.ts'), 'export const seed = true\n')
-
-  execSync('git add -A', { cwd: testRepoDir, stdio: 'pipe' })
-  execSync('git commit -m "Initial commit for E2E tests"', { cwd: testRepoDir, stdio: 'pipe' })
-
-  // Worker-scoped fallbacks can run together; UUIDs prevent temp worktree collisions.
-  const worktreeDir = path.join(testRepoDir, '..', `orca-e2e-worktree-${randomUUID()}`)
-  execSync(`git worktree add "${worktreeDir}" -b e2e-secondary`, {
-    cwd: testRepoDir,
-    stdio: 'pipe'
-  })
-
+  const testRepoDir = seedTestRepository()
   if (options.publishPath !== false) {
     writeFileSync(TEST_REPO_PATH_FILE, testRepoDir)
   }