diff --git a/comfyui_manager/common/git_helper.py b/comfyui_manager/common/git_helper.py
index 1897ee20..2f80f557 100644
--- a/comfyui_manager/common/git_helper.py
+++ b/comfyui_manager/common/git_helper.py
@@ -101,13 +101,30 @@ def gitclone(custom_nodes_path, url, target_hash=None, repo_path=None):
         repo_path = os.path.join(custom_nodes_path, repo_name)
 
     # Clone the repository from the remote URL
+    # First attempt with progress display; on failure retry without progress
+    # so git's stderr (fatal message) is not consumed by the progress callback.
     try:
         repo = git.Repo.clone_from(url, repo_path, recursive=True, progress=GitProgress())
     except git.GitCommandError as e:
+        stderr_msg = e.stderr or ''
         print(f"git clone failed for '{url}': {e}", file=sys.stderr)
-        if e.stderr:
-            print(e.stderr, file=sys.stderr)
-        raise
+        if stderr_msg:
+            print(f"git stderr: {stderr_msg}", file=sys.stderr)
+        else:
+            # Retry without progress to capture git's actual stderr
+            import shutil
+            if os.path.exists(repo_path):
+                shutil.rmtree(repo_path, ignore_errors=True)
+            try:
+                repo = git.Repo.clone_from(url, repo_path, recursive=True)
+            except git.GitCommandError as e2:
+                print(f"git clone retry failed: {e2}", file=sys.stderr)
+                if e2.stderr:
+                    print(f"git stderr: {e2.stderr}", file=sys.stderr)
+                raise e2
+            # If retry succeeds, the first failure was progress-related
+            print("git clone succeeded without progress callback", file=sys.stderr)
+            return
 
     if target_hash is not None:
         print(f"CHECKOUT: {repo_name} [{target_hash}]")