diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/AdminApi.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/AdminApi.java
index f3d2103..f3bc7cc 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/AdminApi.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/AdminApi.java
@@ -17,9 +17,32 @@
 import com.google.gerrit.entities.Project;
 
 public interface AdminApi {
-  public boolean createProject(Project.NameKey project, String head);
 
-  public boolean deleteProject(Project.NameKey project);
+  /**
+   * Create a new project without honouring the reflog configuration.
+   *
+   * @param project the new project to create
+   * @param head initial value for the HEAD
+   * @return true if the project was created
+   * @deprecated this method should not be used as it does not respect the reflog settings
+   *     <p>Use {@link AdminApi#createProject(Project.NameKey,String,boolean)} instead.
+   */
+  @Deprecated(since = "3.14", forRemoval = true)
+  boolean createProject(Project.NameKey project, String head);
 
-  public boolean updateHead(Project.NameKey project, String newHead);
+  /**
+   * Create a new project honouring the reflog configuration.
+   *
+   * @param project the new project to create
+   * @param head initial value for the HEAD
+   * @param enableRefLog true if the reflog tracking should be enabled
+   * @return true if the project was created
+   */
+  default boolean createProject(Project.NameKey project, String head, boolean enableRefLog) {
+    return createProject(project, head);
+  }
+
+  boolean deleteProject(Project.NameKey project);
+
+  boolean updateHead(Project.NameKey project, String newHead);
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/CreateProjectTask.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/CreateProjectTask.java
index 8cbb2a2..32903ab 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/CreateProjectTask.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/CreateProjectTask.java
@@ -53,15 +53,16 @@
   public boolean create() {
     return destinations
         .getURIs(Optional.of(config.getName()), project, FilterType.PROJECT_CREATION)
-        .values()
+        .entries()
         .stream()
-        .map(u -> createProject(u, project, head))
+        .map(entry -> createProject(entry.getValue(), project, head, entry.getKey().storeRefLog()))
         .reduce(true, (a, b) -> a && b);
   }
 
-  private boolean createProject(URIish replicateURI, Project.NameKey projectName, String head) {
+  private boolean createProject(
+      URIish replicateURI, Project.NameKey projectName, String head, boolean storeRefLog) {
     Optional<AdminApi> adminApi = adminApiFactory.get().create(replicateURI);
-    if (adminApi.isPresent() && adminApi.get().createProject(projectName, head)) {
+    if (adminApi.isPresent() && adminApi.get().createProject(projectName, head, storeRefLog)) {
       return true;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/Destination.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/Destination.java
index 873ec82..24ce0ba 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/Destination.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/Destination.java
@@ -956,6 +956,10 @@
     return config.excludedRefsPattern();
   }
 
+  boolean storeRefLog() {
+    return config.storeRefLog();
+  }
+
   private static boolean matches(URIish uri, String urlMatch) {
     if (urlMatch == null || urlMatch.equals("") || urlMatch.equals("*")) {
       return true;
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/DestinationConfigParser.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/DestinationConfigParser.java
index 9b6d431..31bd7d8 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/DestinationConfigParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/DestinationConfigParser.java
@@ -37,9 +37,7 @@
 
   private static final FluentLogger logger = FluentLogger.forEnclosingClass();
 
-  /* (non-Javadoc)
-   * @see com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.ConfigParser#parseRemotes(org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Config)
-   */
+  /** {@inheritDoc} */
   @Override
   public List<RemoteConfiguration> parseRemotes(Config config) throws ConfigInvalidException {
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/DestinationConfiguration.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/DestinationConfiguration.java
index e77b3cf..977b23a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/DestinationConfiguration.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/DestinationConfiguration.java
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@
   private final int slowLatencyThreshold;
   private final Supplier<Integer> pushBatchSize;
   private final ImmutableList<Pattern> excludedRefsPattern;
+  private final boolean storeRefLog;
   private final UrlDistributionStrategy urlDistributionStrategy;
 
   protected DestinationConfiguration(RemoteConfig remoteConfig, Config cfg) {
@@ -123,6 +124,7 @@
               return 0;
             });
     excludedRefsPattern = getExcludedRefsPattern(cfg, name);
+    storeRefLog = cfg.getBoolean("remote", name, "storeRefLog", false);
     urlDistributionStrategy =
         UrlDistributionStrategy.fromConfig(
             cfg.getString("remote", name, "urlDistributionStrategy"));
@@ -232,6 +234,11 @@
   }
 
   @Override
+  public boolean storeRefLog() {
+    return storeRefLog;
+  }
+
+  @Override
   public UrlDistributionStrategy getUrlDistributionStrategy() {
     return urlDistributionStrategy;
   }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/LocalFS.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/LocalFS.java
index b092363..932d907 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/LocalFS.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/LocalFS.java
@@ -20,9 +20,11 @@
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.internal.storage.file.FileRepository;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.ConfigConstants;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Constants;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.RefUpdate;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Repository;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.StoredConfig;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.transport.URIish;
 
 public class LocalFS implements AdminApi {
@@ -35,14 +37,33 @@
 
   @Override
   public boolean createProject(Project.NameKey project, String head) {
+    return createProject(project, head, false);
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public boolean createProject(Project.NameKey project, String head, boolean enableRefLog) {
     try (Repository repo = new FileRepository(uri.getPath())) {
       repo.create(true /* bare */);
 
       if (head != null && head.startsWith(Constants.R_REFS)) {
+        // It is unclear why the reflog is disabled when updating the HEAD. It has been like that
+        // for over a decade and does not cause issues so far.
+        // One educated guess is that it follows the default of the git config option
+        // core.logAllRefUpdates which is false by default for bare repositories and by default
+        // stores reflogs only for repositories which have a working tree.
         RefUpdate u = repo.updateRef(Constants.HEAD);
         u.disableRefLog();
         u.link(head);
       }
+
+      StoredConfig config = repo.getConfig();
+      config.setBoolean(
+          ConfigConstants.CONFIG_CORE_SECTION,
+          null,
+          ConfigConstants.CONFIG_KEY_LOGALLREFUPDATES,
+          enableRefLog);
+      config.save();
+
       repLog.atInfo().log("Created local repository: %s", uri);
     } catch (IOException e) {
       repLog.atSevere().withCause(e).log("Error creating local repository %s", uri.getPath());
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/MergedConfigResource.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/MergedConfigResource.java
index 58a10f0..541b0f4 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/MergedConfigResource.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/MergedConfigResource.java
@@ -34,8 +34,11 @@
 public class MergedConfigResource {
   @VisibleForTesting
   @UsedAt(Project.PLUGIN_PULL_REPLICATION)
+  @SuppressWarnings("UnnecessaryAssignment")
   public static MergedConfigResource withBaseOnly(ConfigResource base) {
     MergedConfigResource mergedConfigResource = new MergedConfigResource();
+    // This assigns an @Inject field explicitly, which is intentional here.
+    // Suppress UnnecessaryAssignment as DI is bypassed on this code path.
     mergedConfigResource.baseConfigProvider = Providers.of(base);
     return mergedConfigResource;
   }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/RemoteConfiguration.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/RemoteConfiguration.java
index c05058b..18dfca2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/RemoteConfiguration.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/RemoteConfiguration.java
@@ -153,6 +153,13 @@
     return ImmutableList.of();
   }
 
+  /**
+   * reflog storage flag for newly created repositories
+   *
+   * @return true if new repositories should store ref-updates in their reflog
+   */
+  boolean storeRefLog();
+
   /** Returns the URL distribution strategy configured for this remote. */
   default UrlDistributionStrategy getUrlDistributionStrategy() {
     return UrlDistributionStrategy.ALL;
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationLogFile.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationLogFile.java
index 60a9523..622034a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationLogFile.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationLogFile.java
@@ -15,19 +15,47 @@
 package com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication;
 
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.systemstatus.ServerInformation;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.config.LogConfig;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.util.PluginLogFile;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.util.SystemLog;
+import com.google.gerrit.util.logging.JsonLayout;
+import com.google.gerrit.util.logging.JsonLogEntry;
+import com.google.gson.annotations.SerializedName;
 import com.google.inject.Inject;
 import org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout;
+import org.apache.log4j.spi.LoggingEvent;
 
 public class ReplicationLogFile extends PluginLogFile {
 
   @Inject
-  public ReplicationLogFile(SystemLog systemLog, ServerInformation serverInfo) {
+  public ReplicationLogFile(SystemLog systemLog, ServerInformation serverInfo, LogConfig config) {
     super(
         systemLog,
         serverInfo,
         ReplicationQueue.REPLICATION_LOG_NAME,
-        new PatternLayout("[%d] %m%n"));
+        new PatternLayout("[%d] %m%n"),
+        new ReplicationJsonLayout(),
+        config);
+  }
+
+  static class ReplicationJsonLayout extends JsonLayout {
+    @SuppressWarnings("unused")
+    private class ReplicationJsonLogEntry extends JsonLogEntry {
+      public String timestamp;
+      public String message;
+
+      @SerializedName("@version")
+      public final int version = 1;
+
+      public ReplicationJsonLogEntry(LoggingEvent event) {
+        timestamp = timestampFormatter.format(event.getTimeStamp());
+        message = (String) event.getMessage();
+      }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public JsonLogEntry toJsonLogEntry(LoggingEvent event) {
+      return new ReplicationJsonLogEntry(event);
+    }
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md b/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md
index f49a5f5..e83d2d4 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md
+++ b/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md
@@ -344,6 +344,17 @@
 
 	Defaults to `git-receive-pack`.
 
+remote.NAME.storeRefLog
+:	`true` if the remote repositories should be enabled for storing
+	ref updates in the reflog once they are created by replication.
+
+	NOTE: Enabling the reflog would prevent the unreferenced objects
+	from being garbage collected, potentially impacting the post-gc
+	repository size. Also, the ref updates may take additional time
+	because of the need to store the old and new SHA1s in the reflog.
+
+	Defaults to `false`.
+
 remote.NAME.uploadpack
 :	Path of the `git-upload-pack` executable on the remote system,
 	if using the SSH transport.
@@ -546,10 +557,13 @@
 	they do in Gerrit.
 
 <a name="remote.NAME.projects">remote.NAME.projects</a>
-:	Specifies which repositories should be replicated to the
-	remote. It can be provided more than once, and supports three
-	formats: regular expressions, wildcard matching, and single
-	project matching. All three formats match case-sensitive.
+:	Specifies which repositories should be replicated to the remote. It
+	can be provided more than once, if any matches, the repository will
+	be replicated.
+
+	Projects supports three formats: regular expressions, wildcard
+	matching, and single project matching. All three formats match
+	case-sensitive.
 
 	Values starting with a caret `^` are treated as regular
 	expressions. `^foo/(bar|baz)` would match the projects
@@ -559,7 +573,12 @@
 
 	Projects may be excluded from replication by using a regular
 	expression with inverse match. `^(?:(?!PATTERN).)*$` will
-	exclude any project that matches.
+	exclude any project that matches. Beware: if another project pattern
+	matches the project, it will be replicated. You can not provide
+	multiple inverted matches since they will cancel each other (a
+	project `foo` would not be matched by `^(?:(?!foo).)*$` but would be
+	matched if a second inverted match `^(?:(?!bar).)*$` is also provided
+	since it matches `foo`).
 
 	Values that are not regular expressions and end in `*` are
 	treated as wildcard matches. Wildcards match projects whose
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationIT.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationIT.java
index 1da1db3..eb7f3c1 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationIT.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationIT.java
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.registration.DynamicSet;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.git.WorkQueue;
 import com.google.inject.Inject;
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.time.Duration;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -39,13 +40,16 @@
 import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
 import java.util.concurrent.Future;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import java.util.function.Consumer;
 import java.util.function.Supplier;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.ConfigConstants;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Constants;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.ObjectId;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Ref;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.RefUpdate;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Repository;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.StoredConfig;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.revwalk.RevCommit;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.revwalk.RevWalk;
 import org.junit.Test;
@@ -73,18 +77,53 @@
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void shouldReplicateNewProject() throws Exception {
+  public void shouldReplicateNewProjectWithoutRefLog() throws Exception {
     setReplicationDestination("foo", "replica", ALL_PROJECTS);
     reloadConfig();
 
-    Project.NameKey sourceProject = createTestProject("foo");
+    Project.NameKey sourceProject = createTestProject("no_reflog_project");
+    Project.NameKey replicaProject = Project.nameKey(sourceProject + "replica.git");
 
-    WaitUtil.waitUntil(
-        () -> nonEmptyProjectExists(Project.nameKey(sourceProject + "replica.git")),
-        TEST_NEW_PROJECT_TIMEOUT);
+    waitForProjectCreated(replicaProject);
 
-    ProjectInfo replicaProject = gApi.projects().name(sourceProject + "replica").get();
-    assertThat(replicaProject).isNotNull();
+    ProjectInfo replicaProjectInfo = gApi.projects().name(replicaProject.get()).get();
+    assertThat(replicaProjectInfo).isNotNull();
+    applyToRepositoryConfig(replicaProject, assertStoreRefLog(false));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void shouldCreateNewProjectWithRefLog() throws Exception {
+    config.setBoolean("remote", "foo", "storeRefLog", true);
+    setReplicationDestination("foo", "replica", ALL_PROJECTS);
+    reloadConfig();
+
+    Project.NameKey sourceProject = createTestProject("reflog_project");
+    Project.NameKey replicaProject = Project.nameKey(sourceProject + "replica.git");
+
+    waitForProjectCreated(replicaProject);
+
+    applyToRepositoryConfig(replicaProject, assertStoreRefLog(true));
+  }
+
+  private void waitForProjectCreated(Project.NameKey replicaProject) throws InterruptedException {
+    WaitUtil.waitUntil(() -> nonEmptyProjectExists(replicaProject), TEST_NEW_PROJECT_TIMEOUT);
+  }
+
+  private static Consumer<StoredConfig> assertStoreRefLog(boolean expectedValue) {
+    return conf ->
+        assertThat(
+                conf.getBoolean(
+                    ConfigConstants.CONFIG_CORE_SECTION,
+                    null,
+                    ConfigConstants.CONFIG_KEY_LOGALLREFUPDATES))
+            .isEqualTo(expectedValue);
+  }
+
+  private void applyToRepositoryConfig(
+      Project.NameKey projectName, Consumer<StoredConfig> functionToApply) throws IOException {
+    try (Repository repo = repoManager.openRepository(projectName)) {
+      functionToApply.accept(repo.getConfig());
+    }
   }
 
   @Test
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationStorageIT.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationStorageIT.java
index 94646c3..643a781 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationStorageIT.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationStorageIT.java
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.ReplicationTasksStorage.ReplicateRefUpdate;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.api.ReplicationConfig.FilterType;
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.net.URISyntaxException;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.util.Arrays;
@@ -96,12 +95,9 @@
     changeReplicationTasksForRemote(tasksStorage.streamWaiting(), changeRef, remote1)
         .forEach(
             (update) -> {
-              try {
-                UriUpdates uriUpdates = new TestUriUpdates(update);
-                tasksStorage.start(uriUpdates);
-                tasksStorage.finish(uriUpdates);
-              } catch (URISyntaxException e) {
-              }
+              UriUpdates uriUpdates = new TestUriUpdates(update);
+              tasksStorage.start(uriUpdates);
+              tasksStorage.finish(uriUpdates);
             });
     reloadConfig();
 
@@ -125,12 +121,9 @@
     changeReplicationTasksForRemote(tasksStorage.streamWaiting(), changeRef, remote1)
         .forEach(
             (update) -> {
-              try {
-                UriUpdates uriUpdates = new TestUriUpdates(update);
-                tasksStorage.start(uriUpdates);
-                tasksStorage.finish(uriUpdates);
-              } catch (URISyntaxException e) {
-              }
+              UriUpdates uriUpdates = new TestUriUpdates(update);
+              tasksStorage.start(uriUpdates);
+              tasksStorage.finish(uriUpdates);
             });
 
     setReplicationDestination(remote1, suffix1, ALL_PROJECTS);
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationTasksStorageMPTest.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationTasksStorageMPTest.java
index cf5168f..1f1c512 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationTasksStorageMPTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationTasksStorageMPTest.java
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@
 import com.google.common.jimfs.Configuration;
 import com.google.common.jimfs.Jimfs;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.ReplicationTasksStorage.ReplicateRefUpdate;
-import java.net.URISyntaxException;
 import java.nio.file.FileSystem;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.util.Set;
@@ -40,7 +39,7 @@
       ReplicateRefUpdate.create(PROJECT, Set.of(REF), URISH, REMOTE);
   protected static final ReplicateRefUpdate STORED_REF_UPDATE =
       ReplicateRefUpdate.create(REF_UPDATE, REF_UPDATE.sha1());
-  protected static final UriUpdates URI_UPDATES = getUriUpdates(REF_UPDATE);
+  protected static final UriUpdates URI_UPDATES = new TestUriUpdates(REF_UPDATE);
 
   protected ReplicationTasksStorage nodeA;
   protected ReplicationTasksStorage nodeB;
@@ -209,12 +208,4 @@
     assertThat(nodeB.start(URI_UPDATES)).isEmpty();
     assertThatStream(persistedView.streamRunning()).containsExactly(STORED_REF_UPDATE);
   }
-
-  public static UriUpdates getUriUpdates(ReplicationTasksStorage.ReplicateRefUpdate refUpdate) {
-    try {
-      return new TestUriUpdates(refUpdate);
-    } catch (URISyntaxException e) {
-      throw new RuntimeException("Cannot instantiate UriUpdates object", e);
-    }
-  }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationTasksStorageTaskTest.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationTasksStorageTaskTest.java
index 43c0b3e..b996938 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationTasksStorageTaskTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationTasksStorageTaskTest.java
@@ -378,8 +378,8 @@
             new URIish("git://host1/someRepo.git"),
             "someRemote");
     assertEquals(
-        gson.toJson(update),
-        "{\"project\":\"someProject\",\"refs\":[\"ref1\"],\"uri\":\"git://host1/someRepo.git\",\"remote\":\"someRemote\"}");
+        /* expected= */ "{\"project\":\"someProject\",\"refs\":[\"ref1\"],\"uri\":\"git://host1/someRepo.git\",\"remote\":\"someRemote\"}",
+        /* actual= */ gson.toJson(update));
     ReplicateRefUpdate update2 =
         ReplicateRefUpdate.create(
             "someProject",
@@ -387,8 +387,8 @@
             new URIish("git://host1/someRepo.git"),
             "someRemote");
     assertEquals(
-        gson.toJson(update2),
-        "{\"project\":\"someProject\",\"refs\":[\"ref1\",\"ref2\"],\"uri\":\"git://host1/someRepo.git\",\"remote\":\"someRemote\"}");
+        /* expected= */ "{\"project\":\"someProject\",\"refs\":[\"ref1\",\"ref2\"],\"uri\":\"git://host1/someRepo.git\",\"remote\":\"someRemote\"}",
+        /* actual= */ gson.toJson(update2));
   }
 
   @Test
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/TestUriUpdates.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/TestUriUpdates.java
index f6eec83..74b2082 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/TestUriUpdates.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/TestUriUpdates.java
@@ -27,11 +27,15 @@
   private final String remote;
   private final Set<ImmutableSet<String>> refs;
 
-  public TestUriUpdates(ReplicateRefUpdate update) throws URISyntaxException {
-    project = Project.nameKey(update.project());
-    uri = new URIish(update.uri());
-    remote = update.remote();
-    refs = Set.of(update.refs());
+  public TestUriUpdates(ReplicateRefUpdate update) {
+    try {
+      project = Project.nameKey(update.project());
+      uri = new URIish(update.uri());
+      remote = update.remote();
+      refs = Set.of(update.refs());
+    } catch (URISyntaxException e) {
+      throw new RuntimeException("TestUriUpdates init failed.", e);
+    }
   }
 
   @Override