diff --git a/e2e-tests/test.sh b/e2e-tests/test.sh
index 58029ba..fab3c7e 100755
--- a/e2e-tests/test.sh
+++ b/e2e-tests/test.sh
@@ -16,11 +16,11 @@
 
 LOCATION="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" >/dev/null 2>&1 && pwd )"
 LOCAL_ENV="$( cd "${LOCATION}/../setup_local_env" >/dev/null 2>&1 && pwd )"
-GERRIT_BRANCH=stable-3.7
+GERRIT_BRANCH=stable-3.8
 GERRIT_CI=https://gerrit-ci.gerritforge.com/view/Plugins-$GERRIT_BRANCH/job
 LAST_BUILD=lastSuccessfulBuild/artifact/bazel-bin/plugins
 DEF_MULTISITE_LOCATION=${LOCATION}/../../../bazel-bin/plugins/multi-site/multi-site.jar
-DEF_GERRIT_IMAGE=3.7.4
+DEF_GERRIT_IMAGE=3.8.1
 DEF_GERRIT_HEALTHCHECK_START_PERIOD=60s
 DEF_GERRIT_HEALTHCHECK_INTERVAL=5s
 DEF_GERRIT_HEALTHCHECK_TIMEOUT=5s
diff --git a/setup_local_env/configs/gerrit.config b/setup_local_env/configs/gerrit.config
index 20075d7..c92c60d 100644
--- a/setup_local_env/configs/gerrit.config
+++ b/setup_local_env/configs/gerrit.config
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+[core]
+    usePerRequestRefCache = false
 [gerrit]
     basePath = git
     serverId = 69ec38f0-350e-4d9c-96d4-bc956f2faaac
diff --git a/setup_local_env/setup.sh b/setup_local_env/setup.sh
index d5ded8c..0e84603 100755
--- a/setup_local_env/setup.sh
+++ b/setup_local_env/setup.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 
 SCRIPT_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" >/dev/null 2>&1 && pwd )"
-GERRIT_BRANCH=stable-3.7
+GERRIT_BRANCH=stable-3.8
 GERRIT_CI=https://gerrit-ci.gerritforge.com/view/Plugins-$GERRIT_BRANCH/job
 LAST_BUILD=lastSuccessfulBuild/artifact/bazel-bin/plugins
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/multisite/validation/ProjectVersionRefUpdateImpl.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/multisite/validation/ProjectVersionRefUpdateImpl.java
index 150ea52..adbef1b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/multisite/validation/ProjectVersionRefUpdateImpl.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/multisite/validation/ProjectVersionRefUpdateImpl.java
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 
 package com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.multisite.validation;
 
+import static com.google.gerrit.server.update.context.RefUpdateContext.RefUpdateType.PLUGIN;
 import static java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets.UTF_8;
 import static org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Constants.OBJ_BLOB;
 
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.events.GitBatchRefUpdateListener;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.extensions.events.GitReferenceUpdated;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.git.GitRepositoryManager;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.update.context.RefUpdateContext;
 import com.google.inject.Inject;
 import com.google.inject.Singleton;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.multisite.ProjectVersionLogger;
@@ -232,7 +234,8 @@
     logger.atFine().log(
         "Updating local version for project %s with version %d",
         projectNameKey.get(), newVersionNumber);
-    try (Repository repository = gitRepositoryManager.openRepository(projectNameKey)) {
+    try (RefUpdateContext ctx = RefUpdateContext.open(PLUGIN);
+        Repository repository = gitRepositoryManager.openRepository(projectNameKey)) {
       RefUpdate refUpdate = getProjectVersionRefUpdate(repository, newVersionNumber);
       RefUpdate.Result result = refUpdate.update();
       if (!isSuccessful(result)) {