diff --git a/roles/openshift-apps/forgejo/templates/values.yaml.j2 b/roles/openshift-apps/forgejo/templates/values.yaml.j2
index 0db201f9f6..b9343f5321 100644
--- a/roles/openshift-apps/forgejo/templates/values.yaml.j2
+++ b/roles/openshift-apps/forgejo/templates/values.yaml.j2
@@ -572,6 +572,7 @@ gitea:
     repository:
       MAX_CREATION_LIMIT: 0
       ALLOW_FORK_WITHOUT_MAXIMUM_LIMIT: true
+      DEFAULT_MERGE_STYLE: rebase
 
     ## @param gitea.config.cors Cross-origin resource sharing settings
     cors: {}