diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 55bbd3ce4..375a9f3b8 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
+2.5.1 - 2020-06-09
+==================
+
+### Fixes
+- Prevent infinite recursion of post-checkout on clone
+    - #1497 PR by @asottile.
+    - #1496 issue by @admorgan.
+
 2.5.0 - 2020-06-08
 ==================
 
diff --git a/pre_commit/git.py b/pre_commit/git.py
index 7e757f247..576bef8cc 100644
--- a/pre_commit/git.py
+++ b/pre_commit/git.py
@@ -158,7 +158,8 @@ def init_repo(path: str, remote: str) -> None:
         remote = os.path.abspath(remote)
 
     env = no_git_env()
-    cmd_output_b('git', 'init', path, env=env)
+    # avoid the user's template so that hooks do not recurse
+    cmd_output_b('git', 'init', '--template=', path, env=env)
     cmd_output_b('git', 'remote', 'add', 'origin', remote, cwd=path, env=env)
 
 
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 03e31d1e4..f1ce18d60 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [metadata]
 name = pre_commit
-version = 2.5.0
+version = 2.5.1
 description = A framework for managing and maintaining multi-language pre-commit hooks.
 long_description = file: README.md
 long_description_content_type = text/markdown
diff --git a/tests/git_test.py b/tests/git_test.py
index e73a6f240..fafd4a6e3 100644
--- a/tests/git_test.py
+++ b/tests/git_test.py
@@ -186,3 +186,8 @@ def test_no_git_env():
         'GIT_SSH': '/usr/bin/ssh',
         'GIT_SSH_COMMAND': 'ssh -o',
     }
+
+
+def test_init_repo_no_hooks(tmpdir):
+    git.init_repo(str(tmpdir), remote='dne')
+    assert not tmpdir.join('.git/hooks').exists()