diff --git a/buildSrc/src/integTest/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/fixtures/AbstractGradleFuncTest.groovy b/buildSrc/src/integTest/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/fixtures/AbstractGradleFuncTest.groovy
index 90734ac4fef..69658330127 100644
--- a/buildSrc/src/integTest/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/fixtures/AbstractGradleFuncTest.groovy
+++ b/buildSrc/src/integTest/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/fixtures/AbstractGradleFuncTest.groovy
@@ -112,8 +112,19 @@ abstract class AbstractGradleFuncTest extends Specification {
     }
 
     void setupLocalGitRepo() {
-        "git init".execute(Collections.emptyList(), testProjectDir.root).waitFor()
-        "git add .".execute(Collections.emptyList(), testProjectDir.root).waitFor()
-        'git commit -m "Initial"'.execute(Collections.emptyList(), testProjectDir.root).waitFor()
+        execute("git init")
+        execute('git config user.email "build-tool@elastic.co"')
+        execute('git config user.name "Build tool"')
+        execute("git add .")
+        execute('git commit -m "Initial"')
+    }
+
+    void execute(String command, File workingDir = testProjectDir.root) {
+        def proc = command.execute(Collections.emptyList(), workingDir)
+        proc.waitFor()
+        if(proc.exitValue()) {
+            println "Error running command ${command}:"
+            println "Syserr: " + proc.errorStream.text
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/buildSrc/src/integTest/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/InternalDistributionBwcSetupPluginFuncTest.groovy b/buildSrc/src/integTest/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/InternalDistributionBwcSetupPluginFuncTest.groovy
index 295d3a38f32..3b4132eaec5 100644
--- a/buildSrc/src/integTest/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/InternalDistributionBwcSetupPluginFuncTest.groovy
+++ b/buildSrc/src/integTest/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/InternalDistributionBwcSetupPluginFuncTest.groovy
@@ -142,10 +142,12 @@ class InternalDistributionBwcSetupPluginFuncTest extends AbstractGradleFuncTest
         FileUtils.copyDirectory(new File(fakeRemote.file), workingRemoteGit)
         fakeRemote.file + "/.git"
         gradleRunner(workingRemoteGit, "wrapper").build()
-        "git init".execute(Collections.emptyList(), workingRemoteGit).waitFor()
-        "git add .".execute(Collections.emptyList(), workingRemoteGit).waitFor()
-        'git commit -m"Initial"'.execute(Collections.emptyList(), workingRemoteGit).waitFor()
-        "git checkout -b origin/8.0".execute(Collections.emptyList(), workingRemoteGit).waitFor()
+        execute("git init", workingRemoteGit)
+        execute('git config user.email "build-tool@elastic.co"', workingRemoteGit)
+        execute('git config user.name "Build tool"', workingRemoteGit)
+        execute("git add .", workingRemoteGit)
+        execute('git commit -m"Initial"', workingRemoteGit)
+        execute("git checkout -b origin/8.0", workingRemoteGit)
         return workingRemoteGit;
     }
 }