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 35470eb..5e7b6b8 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/Destination.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/Destination.java
@@ -726,8 +726,8 @@
     return config.getProjects();
   }
 
-  int getLockErrorMaxRetries() {
-    return config.getLockErrorMaxRetries();
+  int getUpdateRefErrorMaxRetries() {
+    return config.getUpdateRefErrorMaxRetries();
   }
 
   String getRemoteConfigName() {
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 4b757ea..1b39374 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/DestinationConfiguration.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/DestinationConfiguration.java
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
   private final int rescheduleDelay;
   private final int retryDelay;
   private final int drainQueueAttempts;
-  private final int lockErrorMaxRetries;
+  private final int updateRefErrorMaxRetries;
   private final ImmutableList<String> adminUrls;
   private final int poolThreads;
   private final boolean createMissingRepos;
@@ -60,8 +60,11 @@
         Math.max(0, getInt(remoteConfig, cfg, "drainQueueAttempts", DEFAULT_DRAIN_QUEUE_ATTEMPTS));
     poolThreads = Math.max(0, getInt(remoteConfig, cfg, "threads", 1));
     authGroupNames = ImmutableList.copyOf(cfg.getStringList("remote", name, "authGroup"));
-    lockErrorMaxRetries = cfg.getInt("replication", "lockErrorMaxRetries", 0);
-
+    updateRefErrorMaxRetries =
+        cfg.getInt(
+            "replication",
+            "updateRefErrorMaxRetries",
+            cfg.getInt("replication", "lockErrorMaxRetries", 0));
     createMissingRepos = cfg.getBoolean("remote", name, "createMissingRepositories", true);
     replicatePermissions = cfg.getBoolean("remote", name, "replicatePermissions", true);
     replicateProjectDeletions = cfg.getBoolean("remote", name, "replicateProjectDeletions", false);
@@ -106,8 +109,8 @@
     return poolThreads;
   }
 
-  public int getLockErrorMaxRetries() {
-    return lockErrorMaxRetries;
+  public int getUpdateRefErrorMaxRetries() {
+    return updateRefErrorMaxRetries;
   }
 
   @Override
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/PushOne.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/PushOne.java
index b53bf69..cbd2899 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/PushOne.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/PushOne.java
@@ -89,6 +89,17 @@
   static final String ALL_REFS = "..all..";
   static final String ID_MDC_KEY = "pushOneId";
 
+  // The string here needs to match the one returned by Git(versions prior to 2014) server.
+  // See:
+  // https://github.com/git/git/blob/b4d75ac1d152bbab44b0777a4cc0c48db75f6024/builtin/receive-pack.c#L587
+  // https://github.com/eclipse/jgit/blob/8774f541904ca9afba1786b4da14c1aedf4dda78/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/transport/ReceivePack.java#L1859
+  static final String LOCK_FAILURE = "failed to lock";
+
+  // The string here needs to match the one returned by Git server.
+  // See:
+  // https://github.com/git/git/blob/e67fbf927dfdf13d0b21dc6ea15dc3c7ef448ea0/builtin/receive-pack.c#L1611
+  static final String UPDATE_REF_FAILURE = "failed to update ref";
+
   interface Factory {
     PushOne create(Project.NameKey d, URIish u);
   }
@@ -112,8 +123,8 @@
   private final int maxRetries;
   private boolean canceled;
   private final ListMultimap<String, ReplicationState> stateMap = LinkedListMultimap.create();
-  private final int maxLockRetries;
-  private int lockRetryCount;
+  private final int maxUpdateRefRetries;
+  private int updateRefRetryCount;
   private final int id;
   private final long createdAt;
   private final ReplicationMetrics metrics;
@@ -149,8 +160,8 @@
     threadScoper = ts;
     projectName = d;
     uri = u;
-    lockRetryCount = 0;
-    maxLockRetries = pool.getLockErrorMaxRetries();
+    updateRefRetryCount = 0;
+    maxUpdateRefRetries = pool.getUpdateRefErrorMaxRetries();
     id = ig.next();
     stateLog = sl;
     createdAt = System.nanoTime();
@@ -388,12 +399,12 @@
       Throwable cause = e.getCause();
       if (cause instanceof JSchException && cause.getMessage().startsWith("UnknownHostKey:")) {
         repLog.error("Cannot replicate to {}: {}", uri, cause.getMessage());
-      } else if (e instanceof LockFailureException) {
-        lockRetryCount++;
-        repLog.error("Cannot replicate to {} due to lock failure", uri);
+      } else if (e instanceof UpdateRefFailureException) {
+        updateRefRetryCount++;
+        repLog.error("Cannot replicate to {} due to a lock or write ref failure", uri);
 
         // The remote push operation should be retried.
-        if (lockRetryCount <= maxLockRetries) {
+        if (updateRefRetryCount <= maxUpdateRefRetries) {
           if (canceledWhileRunning.get()) {
             logCanceledWhileRunningException(e);
           } else {
@@ -401,7 +412,10 @@
           }
         } else {
           repLog.error(
-              "Giving up after {} lock failures during replication to {}", lockRetryCount, uri);
+              "Giving up after {} '{}' failures during replication to {}",
+              updateRefRetryCount,
+              e.getMessage(),
+              uri);
         }
       } else {
         if (canceledWhileRunning.get()) {
@@ -668,7 +682,8 @@
     cmds.add(new RemoteRefUpdate(git, (Ref) null, dst, force, null, null));
   }
 
-  private void updateStates(Collection<RemoteRefUpdate> refUpdates) throws LockFailureException {
+  private void updateStates(Collection<RemoteRefUpdate> refUpdates)
+      throws UpdateRefFailureException {
     Set<String> doneRefs = new HashSet<>();
     boolean anyRefFailed = false;
     RemoteRefUpdate.Status lastRefStatusError = RemoteRefUpdate.Status.OK;
@@ -712,8 +727,9 @@
                         + " of destination repository.",
                     u.getRemoteName(), uri),
                 logStatesArray);
-          } else if ("failed to lock".equals(u.getMessage())) {
-            throw new LockFailureException(uri, u.getMessage());
+          } else if (LOCK_FAILURE.equals(u.getMessage())
+              || UPDATE_REF_FAILURE.equals(u.getMessage())) {
+            throw new UpdateRefFailureException(uri, u.getMessage());
           } else {
             stateLog.error(
                 String.format(
@@ -752,10 +768,10 @@
     stateMap.clear();
   }
 
-  public static class LockFailureException extends TransportException {
+  public static class UpdateRefFailureException extends TransportException {
     private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
 
-    LockFailureException(URIish uri, String message) {
+    UpdateRefFailureException(URIish uri, String message) {
       super(uri, message);
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md b/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md
index 0aad73b..8d25b4e 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md
+++ b/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md
@@ -94,19 +94,23 @@
 :	Timeout for SSH connections. If 0, there is no timeout and
         the client waits indefinitely. By default, 2 minutes.
 
-replication.lockErrorMaxRetries
-:	Number of times to retry a replication operation if a lock
-	error is detected.
+<a name="replication.updateRefErrorMaxRetries">replication.updateRefErrorMaxRetries</a>
+:	Number of times to retry a replication operation if an update
+	ref error is detected.
 
 	If two or more replication operations (to the same GIT and Ref)
 	are scheduled at approximately the same time (and end up on different
 	replication threads), there is a large probability that the last
-	push to complete will fail with a remote "failure to lock" error.
+	push to complete will fail with a remote "failed to update ref" error.
+	This error may also occur due to a transient issue like file system
+	being full which was previously returned as "failed to write" by git.
+
 	This option allows Gerrit to retry the replication push when the
-	"failure to lock" error is detected.
+	"failed to update ref" error is detected. Also retry when the error
+	"failed to lock" is detected as that is the legacy string used by git.
 
 	A good value would be 3 retries or less, depending on how often
-	you see lockError collisions in your server logs. A too highly set
+	you see updateRefError collisions in your server logs. A too highly set
 	value risks keeping around the replication operations in the queue
 	for a long time, and the number of items in the queue will increase
 	with time.
@@ -121,6 +125,16 @@
 
 	Default: 0 (disabled, i.e. never retry)
 
+replication.lockErrorMaxRetries
+:	Refer to the [replication.updateRefErrorMaxRetries][4] section.
+
+	If both `lockErrorMaxRetries` and `updateRefErrorMaxRetries` are
+	configured, then `updateRefErrorMaxRetries` takes precedence.
+
+	Default: 0 (disabled, i.e. never retry)
+
+[4]: #replication.updateRefErrorMaxRetries
+
 replication.maxRetries
 :	Maximum number of times to retry a push operation that previously
 	failed.