diff --git a/inventory/service/host_vars/gitea01.opendev.org.yaml b/inventory/service/host_vars/gitea01.opendev.org.yaml
index 8c1b273ab4..9587736b73 100644
--- a/inventory/service/host_vars/gitea01.opendev.org.yaml
+++ b/inventory/service/host_vars/gitea01.opendev.org.yaml
@@ -2,3 +2,8 @@ letsencrypt_certs:
   gitea01-main:
     - gitea01.opendev.org:3000
     - opendev.org
+borg_backup_excludes_extra:
+  # git trees aren't needed
+  - /var/gitea/data/
+  # db is backed up in dumps, don't capture live files
+  - /var/gitea/db