diff --git a/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/AbstractSimpleRepositoryHandler.java b/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/AbstractSimpleRepositoryHandler.java
index a2fd5b30e2..54c9941962 100644
--- a/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/AbstractSimpleRepositoryHandler.java
+++ b/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/AbstractSimpleRepositoryHandler.java
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractSimpleRepositoryHandler<C extends RepositoryConfig
 
   @Override
   public Repository create(Repository repository) {
-    File directory = repositoryLocationResolver.getNativeDirectory(repository);
+    File directory = initialRepositoryLocationResolver.getDefaultNativeDirectory(repository);
     if (directory != null && directory.exists()) {
       throw new AlreadyExistsException(repository);
     }
@@ -161,11 +161,6 @@ public abstract class AbstractSimpleRepositoryHandler<C extends RepositoryConfig
     return directory;
   }
 
-  @Override
-  public File getInitialBaseDirectory() {
-    return initialRepositoryLocationResolver.getBaseDirectory();
-  }
-
   @Override
   public String getVersionInformation() {
     return DEFAULT_VERSION_INFORMATION;
diff --git a/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/InitialRepositoryLocationResolver.java b/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/InitialRepositoryLocationResolver.java
index d2b413b92a..2452561733 100644
--- a/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/InitialRepositoryLocationResolver.java
+++ b/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/InitialRepositoryLocationResolver.java
@@ -30,15 +30,16 @@ public class InitialRepositoryLocationResolver {
     this.context = context;
   }
 
-  File getBaseDirectory() {
-    return new File(context.getBaseDirectory(), DEFAULT_REPOSITORY_PATH);
-  }
-
   File getDefaultDirectory(Repository repository) {
     String initialRepoFolder = getRelativeRepositoryPath(repository);
     return new File(context.getBaseDirectory(), initialRepoFolder);
   }
 
+  File getDefaultNativeDirectory(Repository repository) {
+    String initialRepoFolder = getRelativeRepositoryPath(repository);
+    return new File(context.getBaseDirectory(), initialRepoFolder + "/data");
+  }
+
   public String getRelativeRepositoryPath(Repository repository) {
     return DEFAULT_REPOSITORY_PATH + File.separator + repository.getId();
   }
diff --git a/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/PathBasedRepositoryDAO.java b/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/PathBasedRepositoryDAO.java
index 8898a9323b..4889a6ada8 100644
--- a/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/PathBasedRepositoryDAO.java
+++ b/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/PathBasedRepositoryDAO.java
@@ -11,10 +11,7 @@ import java.nio.file.Path;
 public interface PathBasedRepositoryDAO extends RepositoryDAO {
 
   /**
-   * get the current path of the repository or create it
-   *
-   * @param repository
-   * @return the current path of the repository
+   * Get the current path of the repository. This works for existing repositories only, not for repositories that should be created.
    */
   Path getPath(Repository repository) ;
 }
diff --git a/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/RepositoryDirectoryHandler.java b/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/RepositoryDirectoryHandler.java
index 9891c307bf..2052c8c71c 100644
--- a/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/RepositoryDirectoryHandler.java
+++ b/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/RepositoryDirectoryHandler.java
@@ -48,10 +48,4 @@ public interface RepositoryDirectoryHandler extends RepositoryHandler {
    * @return the current directory of the given repository
    */
   File getDirectory(Repository repository);
-
-  /**
-   * get the initial directory of all repositories
-   * @return the initial directory of all repositories
-   */
-  File getInitialBaseDirectory();
 }
diff --git a/scm-dao-xml/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/xml/XmlRepositoryDAO.java b/scm-dao-xml/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/xml/XmlRepositoryDAO.java
index 079399fec4..6e24f2ec7b 100644
--- a/scm-dao-xml/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/xml/XmlRepositoryDAO.java
+++ b/scm-dao-xml/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/xml/XmlRepositoryDAO.java
@@ -153,7 +153,10 @@ public class XmlRepositoryDAO
     return context
       .getBaseDirectory()
       .toPath()
-      .resolve(findExistingRepositoryPath(repository).map(RepositoryPath::getPath).orElse(initialRepositoryLocationResolver.getRelativeRepositoryPath(repository)));
+      .resolve(
+        findExistingRepositoryPath(repository)
+          .map(RepositoryPath::getPath)
+          .orElseThrow(() -> new InternalRepositoryException(repository, "could not find base directory for repository")));
   }
 
   @Override
diff --git a/scm-dao-xml/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/xml/XmlRepositoryDAOTest.java b/scm-dao-xml/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/xml/XmlRepositoryDAOTest.java
index 315aae8187..a6c618e5db 100644
--- a/scm-dao-xml/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/xml/XmlRepositoryDAOTest.java
+++ b/scm-dao-xml/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/xml/XmlRepositoryDAOTest.java
@@ -104,19 +104,6 @@ public class XmlRepositoryDAOTest {
     assertThat(path.toString()).isEqualTo("/tmp/path");
   }
 
-  @Test
-  public void shouldGetPathForNewRepository() {
-    when(db.getPaths()).thenReturn(emptyList());
-
-    InitialRepositoryLocationResolver initialRepositoryLocationResolver = new InitialRepositoryLocationResolver(context);
-    XmlRepositoryDAO dao = new XmlRepositoryDAO(storeFactory, initialRepositoryLocationResolver, context);
-
-    Repository newRepository = new Repository("id", "new", null, null);
-    Path path = dao.getPath(newRepository);
-
-    assertThat(path.toString()).isEqualTo(context.getBaseDirectory().getPath() + "/" + InitialRepositoryLocationResolver.DEFAULT_REPOSITORY_PATH + "/id");
-  }
-
   @Test
   public void shouldFindRepositoryForRelativePath() {
     new File(context.getBaseDirectory(), "relative/path/data").mkdirs();
diff --git a/scm-plugins/scm-hg-plugin/src/test/java/sonia/scm/web/HgHookCallbackServletTest.java b/scm-plugins/scm-hg-plugin/src/test/java/sonia/scm/web/HgHookCallbackServletTest.java
index a13f597829..0cc35686bc 100644
--- a/scm-plugins/scm-hg-plugin/src/test/java/sonia/scm/web/HgHookCallbackServletTest.java
+++ b/scm-plugins/scm-hg-plugin/src/test/java/sonia/scm/web/HgHookCallbackServletTest.java
@@ -33,10 +33,6 @@ public class HgHookCallbackServletTest {
     String path = "/tmp/hg/12345";
     when(request.getParameter(PARAM_REPOSITORYPATH)).thenReturn(path);
 
-
-    File file = new File(path);
-    when(handler.getInitialBaseDirectory()).thenReturn(file);
-
     servlet.doPost(request, response);
 
     verify(response, never()).sendError(anyInt());