diff --git a/first-class-pipeline/src/com/freeleaps/devops/CommitMessageLinter.groovy b/first-class-pipeline/src/com/freeleaps/devops/CommitMessageLinter.groovy
index 3c632cad..21176eb7 100644
--- a/first-class-pipeline/src/com/freeleaps/devops/CommitMessageLinter.groovy
+++ b/first-class-pipeline/src/com/freeleaps/devops/CommitMessageLinter.groovy
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ class CommitMessageLinter {
     steps.log.info "<Commit Message Linter> Linting commit messages from HEAD..."
 
     steps.dir(steps.env.workspace) {
+      // commit lint cli requires a git repository to lint commit messages, so we need make sure the workspace is a trusted git repository
+      steps.sh "git config --global --add safe.directory ${steps.env.workspace}"
       steps.sh "commitlint --verbose -g ${rules} -f HEAD^"
     }
   }