diff --git a/src/ahriman/core/alpm/repo.py b/src/ahriman/core/alpm/repo.py
index 85da514e..c4a78f0e 100644
--- a/src/ahriman/core/alpm/repo.py
+++ b/src/ahriman/core/alpm/repo.py
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ class Repo(LazyLogging):
             path(Path): path to archive to add
         """
         check_output(
-            "repo-add", *self.sign_args, "--remove", str(self.repo_path), str(path),
+            "repo-add", *self.sign_args, "-R", str(self.repo_path), str(path),
             exception=BuildError.from_process(path.name),
             cwd=self.paths.repository,
             logger=self.logger,
@@ -76,13 +76,8 @@ class Repo(LazyLogging):
         """
         create empty repository database. It just calls add with empty arguments
         """
-        # since pacman-6.1.0 repo-add doesn't create empty database in case if no packages supplied
-        # this code creates empty files instead
-        if self.repo_path.exists():
-            return  # database is already created, skip this part
-
-        self.repo_path.touch(exist_ok=True)
-        (self.paths.repository / f"{self.name}.db").symlink_to(self.repo_path)
+        check_output("repo-add", *self.sign_args, str(self.repo_path),
+                     cwd=self.paths.repository, logger=self.logger, user=self.uid)
 
     def remove(self, package: str, filename: Path) -> None:
         """
diff --git a/tests/ahriman/core/alpm/test_repo.py b/tests/ahriman/core/alpm/test_repo.py
index 03714216..db52b1e3 100644
--- a/tests/ahriman/core/alpm/test_repo.py
+++ b/tests/ahriman/core/alpm/test_repo.py
@@ -26,28 +26,13 @@ def test_repo_add(repo: Repo, mocker: MockerFixture) -> None:
 
 def test_repo_init(repo: Repo, mocker: MockerFixture) -> None:
     """
-    must create empty database files
+    must call repo-add with empty package list on repo initializing
     """
-    mocker.patch("pathlib.Path.exists", return_value=False)
-    touch_mock = mocker.patch("pathlib.Path.touch")
-    symlink_mock = mocker.patch("pathlib.Path.symlink_to")
+    check_output_mock = mocker.patch("ahriman.core.alpm.repo.check_output")
 
     repo.init()
-    touch_mock.assert_called_once_with(exist_ok=True)
-    symlink_mock.assert_called_once_with(repo.repo_path)
-
-
-def test_repo_init_skip(repo: Repo, mocker: MockerFixture) -> None:
-    """
-    must do not create files if database already exists
-    """
-    mocker.patch("pathlib.Path.exists", return_value=True)
-    touch_mock = mocker.patch("pathlib.Path.touch")
-    symlink_mock = mocker.patch("pathlib.Path.symlink_to")
-
-    repo.init()
-    touch_mock.assert_not_called()
-    symlink_mock.assert_not_called()
+    check_output_mock.assert_called_once()  # it will be checked later
+    assert check_output_mock.call_args[0][0] == "repo-add"
 
 
 def test_repo_remove(repo: Repo, mocker: MockerFixture) -> None: