diff --git a/internal/pkg/action/checkout/checkout.go b/internal/pkg/action/checkout/checkout.go
index 2d42734b..624ef64c 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/action/checkout/checkout.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/action/checkout/checkout.go
@@ -174,9 +174,6 @@ func Main(ctx context.Context, c *action.Context) (err error) {
 		env["GIT_SSH_COMMAND"] = shellquote.Join(ssh...)
 		config += "[core]\n\tsshCommand = " + strconv.Quote(env["GIT_SSH_COMMAND"]) + "\n"
 	}
-	if !persist {
-		config = ""
-	}
 
 	if co.objectFormat == "" || co.sha == "" && !strings.HasPrefix(co.ref, "refs/") {
 		advertised, err := lsRemote(ctx, c, env, co.url, co.ref)
@@ -191,7 +188,7 @@ func Main(ctx context.Context, c *action.Context) (err error) {
 	if ref != co.sha {
 		co.outputRef = cmp.Or(ref, co.ref) // as given, like actions/checkout
 	}
-	if err := c.Container.Copy(runnerTemp, &container.FileEntry{Name: credentials, Mode: 0o600, Body: config})(ctx); err != nil {
+	if err := c.Container.Copy(runnerTemp, &container.FileEntry{Name: credentials, Mode: 0o600})(ctx); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
@@ -215,7 +212,10 @@ func Main(ctx context.Context, c *action.Context) (err error) {
 		}
 		commands = commands[fetched:]
 	}
-	return clone(commands)
+	if err := clone(commands); err != nil || !persist {
+		return err
+	}
+	return c.Container.Copy(runnerTemp, &container.FileEntry{Name: credentials, Mode: 0o600, Body: config})(ctx) // for later steps, the step itself authenticates through env
 }
 
 func gitEnv(c *action.Context, config []string) map[string]string {
diff --git a/internal/pkg/action/checkout/checkout_test.go b/internal/pkg/action/checkout/checkout_test.go
index 32a5596c..84587029 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/action/checkout/checkout_test.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/action/checkout/checkout_test.go
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ func TestCheckout(t *testing.T) {
 	server := t.TempDir()
 	serverURL := (&url.URL{Scheme: "file", Path: "/" + strings.TrimPrefix(filepath.ToSlash(server), "/")}).String()
 	var sha string
-	_, lfsErr := exec.LookPath("git-lfs")
+	lfsPath, lfsErr := exec.LookPath("git-lfs")
 	require.True(t, t.Run("fixtures", func(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Run("history", func(t *testing.T) {
 			t.Parallel()
@@ -106,6 +106,10 @@ test -s "$2" || exit 1
 printf '%s\n' "$@" > "$SSH_ARGS"
 for last; do :; done
 exec sh -c "$(printf '%s' "$last" | sed "s#git-upload-pack '/\(.*\)\.git'#git upload-pack '$SSH_SERVER/\1'#")"
+`), 0o755))
+	require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(tools, "git-lfs"), []byte(`#!/bin/sh
+git config --get-regexp extraheader > "$LFS_HEADERS"
+exec "$LFS" "$@"
 `), 0o755))
 	globalConfig := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "gitconfig")
 	require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(globalConfig, []byte("[protocol \"file\"]\n\tallow = always\n"), 0o644))
@@ -214,6 +218,7 @@ exec sh -c "$(printf '%s' "$last" | sed "s#git-upload-pack '/\(.*\)\.git'#git up
 					Env: map[string]string{
 						"PATH": tools + string(os.PathListSeparator) + os.Getenv("PATH"), "GIT_CONFIG_GLOBAL": globalConfig, "GIT_CONFIG_NOSYSTEM": "1",
 						"GIT_DIR": host, "GITHUB_OUTPUT": output, "SSH_SERVER": filepath.ToSlash(server), "SSH_ARGS": filepath.Join(runnerTemp, "ssh-args"),
+						"LFS": lfsPath, "LFS_HEADERS": filepath.Join(runnerTemp, "lfs-headers"),
 					},
 				})
 			}
@@ -279,6 +284,10 @@ exec sh -c "$(printf '%s' "$last" | sed "s#git-upload-pack '/\(.*\)\.git'#git up
 				headers, _ := exec.Command("git", "-C", repo, "config", "--get-all", "http."+serverURL+"/.extraheader").Output()
 				assert.Equal(t, persisted, string(headers) == "\nAuthorization: Basic dG9rZW46dG9r\n", repo)
 			}
+			if tc.inputs["lfs"] == "true" && runtime.GOOS != "windows" {
+				headers, _ := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(runnerTemp, "lfs-headers"))
+				assert.Equal(t, 1, strings.Count(string(headers), "Authorization"), string(headers))
+			}
 			if tc.inputs["ssh-key"] != "" {
 				keys, _ := filepath.Glob(filepath.Join(runnerTemp, "git-ssh-key-*"))
 				require.Len(t, keys, 1)