diff --git a/functions-common b/functions-common
index ddef2e4..8651604 100644
--- a/functions-common
+++ b/functions-common
@@ -677,8 +677,13 @@
     # about how we clone and work with repos.  Mark them safe globally
     # as a work-around.
     #
+    # NOTE(danms): On bionic (and likely others) git-config may write
+    # ~stackuser/.gitconfig if not run with sudo -H. Using --system
+    # writes these changes to /etc/gitconfig which is more
+    # discoverable anyway.
+    #
     # [1] https://github.com/git/git/commit/8959555cee7ec045958f9b6dd62e541affb7e7d9
-    sudo git config --global --add safe.directory ${git_dest}
+    sudo git config --system --add safe.directory ${git_dest}
 
     # print out the results so we know what change was used in the logs
     cd $git_dest