diff --git a/src/commands.rs b/src/commands.rs
index 7df9ff0a7..d61c7818b 100644
--- a/src/commands.rs
+++ b/src/commands.rs
@@ -1100,9 +1100,10 @@ Set `ui.allow-init-native` to allow initializing a repo with the native backend.
     let relative_wc_path = file_util::relative_path(&cwd, &wc_path);
     writeln!(ui, "Initialized repo in \"{}\"", relative_wc_path.display())?;
     if args.git && wc_path.join(".git").exists() {
-        ui.write_warn(format!(
-            "Empty repo created. To create repo backed by existing Git repo, run `jj init \
-             --git-repo={}` instead.\n",
+        ui.write_warn("Empty repo created.\n")?;
+        ui.write_hint(format!(
+            "Hint: To create a repo backed by the existing Git repo, run `jj init --git-repo={}` \
+             instead.\n",
             relative_wc_path.display()
         ))?;
     }
diff --git a/tests/test_init_command.rs b/tests/test_init_command.rs
index 50416531c..f5c187899 100644
--- a/tests/test_init_command.rs
+++ b/tests/test_init_command.rs
@@ -169,7 +169,8 @@ fn test_init_git_internal_but_could_be_colocated() {
     Initialized repo in "."
     "###);
     insta::assert_snapshot!(get_stderr_string(&assert), @r###"
-    Empty repo created. To create repo backed by existing Git repo, run `jj init --git-repo=.` instead.
+    Empty repo created.
+    Hint: To create a repo backed by the existing Git repo, run `jj init --git-repo=.` instead.
     "###);
 }