diff --git a/packages/steiger/src/features/choose-root-folder/choose-from-similar.ts b/packages/steiger/src/features/choose-root-folder/choose-from-similar.ts
index bf2178c..bfa4257 100644
--- a/packages/steiger/src/features/choose-root-folder/choose-from-similar.ts
+++ b/packages/steiger/src/features/choose-root-folder/choose-from-similar.ts
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ export async function chooseFromSimilar(input: string): Promise<string> {
   const existingDir = await resolveWithCorrections(dir || '.')
 
   const candidates = (await readdir(existingDir, { withFileTypes: true }))
-    .filter((entry) => entry.isDirectory() && !isIgnored(join(existingDir, entry.name)))
+    .filter((entry) => entry.isDirectory() && entry.name !== '.git' && !isIgnored(join(existingDir, entry.name)))
     .map((entry) => entry.name)
   const withDistances = candidates.map((candidate) => [candidate, distance(candidate, base)] as const)
   const suggestions = withDistances
diff --git a/packages/steiger/src/features/transfer-fs-to-vfs.ts b/packages/steiger/src/features/transfer-fs-to-vfs.ts
index 02de8ae..d22a825 100644
--- a/packages/steiger/src/features/transfer-fs-to-vfs.ts
+++ b/packages/steiger/src/features/transfer-fs-to-vfs.ts
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ export async function createWatcher(path: string) {
   const isIgnored = await isGitIgnored({ cwd: find.up('.git', { cwd: path }) ?? path })
 
   const watcher = chokidar.watch(path, {
-    ignored: (path) => path.split(sep).includes('node_modules') || isIgnored(path),
+    ignored: (path) => path.split(sep).includes('node_modules') || path.split(sep).includes('.git') || isIgnored(path),
     ignoreInitial: false,
     alwaysStat: true,
     awaitWriteFinish: true,