diff --git a/sections/new-hooks.md b/sections/new-hooks.md
index 70699666..a99e495e 100644
--- a/sections/new-hooks.md
+++ b/sections/new-hooks.md
@@ -106,8 +106,9 @@ interactively:
 _note_: you may need to provide `--commit-msg-filename` when using this
 command with hook types `prepare-commit-msg` and `commit-msg`.
 
-a commit is not necessary to `try-repo` on a local
-directory. `pre-commit` will clone any tracked uncommitted changes.
+Specifying a commit is not necessary to `try-repo` on a local
+directory, however, the repository must have at least one commit in its history.
+`pre-commit` will clone any tracked uncommitted changes.
 
 ```pre-commit
 ~/work/hook-repo $ git checkout origin/main -b feature