diff --git a/src/git-lfs/devcontainer-feature.json b/src/git-lfs/devcontainer-feature.json
index fe23e02cf..a8d65b714 100644
--- a/src/git-lfs/devcontainer-feature.json
+++ b/src/git-lfs/devcontainer-feature.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
     "id": "git-lfs",
-    "version": "1.2.5",
+    "version": "1.2.6",
     "name": "Git Large File Support (LFS)",
     "documentationURL": "https://github.com/devcontainers/features/tree/main/src/git-lfs",
     "description": "Installs Git Large File Support (Git LFS) along with needed dependencies. Useful for base Dockerfiles that often are missing required install dependencies like git and curl.",
diff --git a/src/git-lfs/install.sh b/src/git-lfs/install.sh
index 71066c7b3..75f9e7daa 100755
--- a/src/git-lfs/install.sh
+++ b/src/git-lfs/install.sh
@@ -265,11 +265,18 @@ if [ "${AUTO_PULL}" != "true" ]; then
     exit 0
 fi
 
-# Check if repo is a git lfs repo.
-if ! git lfs ls-files > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+# Check if repo is a git lfs enabled repo by running 'git lfs ls-files'
+if ! ls_files_output=$(git lfs ls-files 2>&1); then
+    echo "(!) Skipping automatic 'git lfs pull' because 'git lfs ls-files' failed"
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+# Check if 'git lfs ls-files' output is empty
+if [ -z "$ls_files_output" ]; then
     echo "(!) Skipping automatic 'git lfs pull' because no git lfs files were detected"
     exit 0
 fi
+
 git lfs install
 git lfs pull
 EOF
diff --git a/test/git-lfs/noLfsFiles.sh b/test/git-lfs/noLfsFiles.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..3099762f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/git-lfs/noLfsFiles.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -e
+
+# Test for git-lfs behavior with repos that have no LFS files
+# This tests the fix for the issue where git lfs install was running unnecessarily
+
+# Optional: Import test library
+source dev-container-features-test-lib
+
+# Test that git-lfs is installed
+check "git-lfs version" git-lfs --version
+
+# Test the generated script exists
+check "pull script exists" test -f /usr/local/share/pull-git-lfs-artifacts.sh
+
+# We should already be in a git repository created by initializeCommand
+# Verify we're in a git repository
+check "in git repository" git rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree
+
+# Test that git lfs ls-files returns empty output
+check "git lfs ls-files returns empty output" test -z "$(git lfs ls-files 2>/dev/null)"
+
+# Verify no LFS hooks exist initially (the script should have already run during postCreateCommand)
+HOOKS_COUNT=$(find .git/hooks -type f ! -name '*.sample' | wc -l)
+check "no git hooks installed after postCreateCommand" test "$HOOKS_COUNT" -eq 0
+
+# Double check: specifically look for the hooks that git lfs install would create
+check "no post-merge hook" test ! -f .git/hooks/post-merge
+check "no pre-push hook" test ! -f .git/hooks/pre-push
+check "no post-commit hook" test ! -f .git/hooks/post-commit
+check "no post-checkout hook" test ! -f .git/hooks/post-checkout
+
+# Report results
+reportResults
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/git-lfs/scenarios.json b/test/git-lfs/scenarios.json
index 009dfbb64..e35a96cf7 100644
--- a/test/git-lfs/scenarios.json
+++ b/test/git-lfs/scenarios.json
@@ -19,6 +19,14 @@
             }
         }
     },
+    "noLfsFiles": {
+        "image": "mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/base:ubuntu",
+        "initializeCommand": "git init && git config user.email 'test@example.com' && git config user.name 'Test User' && echo 'regular file content' > regular.txt && git add regular.txt && git commit -m 'Initial commit without LFS'",
+        "remoteUser": "vscode",
+        "features": {
+            "git-lfs": {}
+        }
+    },
     "use_github": {
         "image": "mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/base:ubuntu",
         "remoteUser": "vscode",