diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/ChangeCacheKey.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/ChangeCacheKey.java
index 9a6b0d6..291ec65 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/ChangeCacheKey.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/ChangeCacheKey.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 import com.google.gerrit.common.Nullable;
 import com.google.gerrit.entities.Change;
 import com.google.gerrit.entities.Project;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.ObjectId;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Repository;
 
@@ -25,7 +26,11 @@
 public abstract class ChangeCacheKey {
   /* `repo` and `changeId` need to be part of the cache key because the
   Loader requires them in order to fetch the relevant changeNote. */
-  public abstract Repository repo();
+  private final AtomicReference<Repository> repo = new AtomicReference<>();
+
+  public final Repository repo() {
+    return repo.get();
+  }
 
   public abstract Change.Id changeId();
 
@@ -39,6 +44,8 @@
       Change.Id changeId,
       @Nullable ObjectId changeRevision,
       Project.NameKey project) {
-    return new AutoValue_ChangeCacheKey(repo, changeId, changeRevision, project);
+    ChangeCacheKey cacheKey = new AutoValue_ChangeCacheKey(changeId, changeRevision, project);
+    cacheKey.repo.set(repo);
+    return cacheKey;
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/libmodule/plugins/test/GitRefsFilterTest.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/libmodule/plugins/test/GitRefsFilterTest.java
index 1fd85c1..c47ebe7 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/libmodule/plugins/test/GitRefsFilterTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/libmodule/plugins/test/GitRefsFilterTest.java
@@ -191,10 +191,24 @@
     assertThat(cacheEntry.getKey().project()).isEqualTo(project);
     assertThat(cacheEntry.getKey().changeId()).isEqualTo(changeId);
     assertThat(cacheEntry.getKey().changeRevision()).isEqualTo(metaRef.getObjectId());
+    assertThat(cacheEntry.getKey().repo()).isNotNull();
     assertThat(cacheEntry.getValue()).isFalse();
   }
 
   @Test
+  public void testShouldCacheChangeKeyContainRepoAfterDeserializing() throws Exception {
+    Change.Id changeId = Change.id(createChangeAndAbandon());
+    getRefs(cloneProjectChangesRefs(user));
+
+    assertThat(changeOpenCache.asMap().size()).isEqualTo(1);
+
+    Map.Entry<ChangeCacheKey, Boolean> cacheEntry =
+        new ArrayList<>(changeOpenCache.asMap().entrySet()).get(0);
+
+    assertThat(cacheEntry.getKey().repo()).isNotNull();
+  }
+
+  @Test
   public void testShouldCacheWhenChangeIsOpen() throws Exception {
     createChange();
     List<Ref> refs = getRefs(cloneProjectChangesRefs(user));
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/ChangeCacheKeyTest.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/ChangeCacheKeyTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eae3624
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/ChangeCacheKeyTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+// Copyright (C) 2023 The Android Open Source Project
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package com.googlesource.gerrit.modules.gitrefsfilter;
+
+import static com.google.common.truth.Truth.assertThat;
+
+import com.google.gerrit.entities.Change;
+import com.google.gerrit.entities.Project;
+import com.google.gerrit.entities.Project.NameKey;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.internal.storage.dfs.DfsRepositoryDescription;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.internal.storage.dfs.InMemoryRepository;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.ObjectId;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Repository;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class ChangeCacheKeyTest {
+  private static final String REPO_NAME = "test_repo";
+  private static final Change.Id ID = Change.id(10000);
+  private static final ObjectId CHANGE_REVISION = ObjectId.zeroId();
+  private static final NameKey TEST_REPO = Project.nameKey(REPO_NAME);
+
+  @Test
+  public void shouldExcludeRepoFieldDuringEqualsCalculation() throws IOException {
+    ChangeCacheKey cacheKey1 =
+        ChangeCacheKey.create(newRepository(), ID, CHANGE_REVISION, TEST_REPO);
+    ChangeCacheKey cacheKey2 =
+        ChangeCacheKey.create(newRepository(), ID, CHANGE_REVISION, TEST_REPO);
+    assertThat(cacheKey1).isEqualTo(cacheKey2);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void shouldExcludeRepoFieldDuringHashCodeCalculation() throws IOException {
+    try (Repository repo1 = newRepository();
+        Repository repo2 = newRepository()) {
+      ChangeCacheKey cacheKey1 = ChangeCacheKey.create(repo1, ID, CHANGE_REVISION, TEST_REPO);
+      ChangeCacheKey cacheKey2 = ChangeCacheKey.create(repo2, ID, CHANGE_REVISION, TEST_REPO);
+      assertThat(cacheKey1.hashCode()).isEqualTo(cacheKey2.hashCode());
+    }
+  }
+
+  private Repository newRepository() throws IOException {
+    return new InMemoryRepository.Builder()
+        .setRepositoryDescription(new DfsRepositoryDescription(REPO_NAME))
+        .build();
+  }
+}