I stumbled upon this from Unable to delete project
I am unable to replicate this error using the steps you have provided.
i.e.
- Created a new rails project.
- Removed the README
- Initialized a git repo in the project:
git init - Added, committed and pushed the changes to a remote repo on GitLab.
- Here I was prompted that ‘The project does not have a README defined. Click here to add a README’.
- I then added the README from GitLab and committed.
- Then I pulled the changes to my local machine. Made some small changes, committed and pushed to GitLab.
I know this is a bit late, but if I was able to obtain the output when you git pull or rebase then I would be of more help.
Feel free to reply if you ever encounter this anymore 