diff --git a/lib/util/cache/repository/index.spec.ts b/lib/util/cache/repository/index.spec.ts
index b1b5d69dedb19c..d609f2d20ca026 100644
--- a/lib/util/cache/repository/index.spec.ts
+++ b/lib/util/cache/repository/index.spec.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@ jest.mock('fs-extra');
 const fs = mocked(_fs);
 
 describe('lib/util/cache/repository', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    jest.resetAllMocks();
+  });
   const config = {
     cacheDir: '/tmp/renovate/cache/',
     platform: 'github',
@@ -23,17 +26,25 @@ describe('lib/util/cache/repository', () => {
     });
     expect(fs.readFile.mock.calls).toHaveLength(0);
   });
-  it('reads from cache and finalizes', async () => {
+  it('resets if invalid', async () => {
     fs.readFile.mockResolvedValueOnce('{}' as any);
     await repositoryCache.initialize({
       ...config,
       repositoryCache: 'enabled',
     });
+    expect(repositoryCache.getCache()).toEqual({ repository: 'abc/def' });
+  });
+  it('reads from cache and finalizes', async () => {
+    fs.readFile.mockResolvedValueOnce('{"repository":"abc/def"}' as any);
+    await repositoryCache.initialize({
+      ...config,
+      repositoryCache: 'enabled',
+    });
     await repositoryCache.finalize();
     expect(fs.readFile.mock.calls).toHaveLength(1);
     expect(fs.outputFile.mock.calls).toHaveLength(1);
   });
   it('gets', () => {
-    expect(repositoryCache.getCache()).toEqual({});
+    expect(repositoryCache.getCache()).toEqual({ repository: 'abc/def' });
   });
 });
diff --git a/lib/util/cache/repository/index.ts b/lib/util/cache/repository/index.ts
index 4ca55197b73d35..791017588c80eb 100644
--- a/lib/util/cache/repository/index.ts
+++ b/lib/util/cache/repository/index.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ export interface BaseBranchCache {
 }
 
 export interface Cache {
+  repository?: string;
   init?: {
     configFile: string;
     contents: RenovateConfig;
@@ -31,21 +32,29 @@ export function getCacheFileName(config: RenovateConfig): string {
   );
 }
 
+function validate(config: RenovateConfig, input: any): Cache | null {
+  if (input?.repository === config.repository) {
+    return input as Cache;
+  }
+  // reset
+  return null;
+}
+
 export async function initialize(config: RenovateConfig): Promise<void> {
+  cache = null;
   try {
     cacheFileName = getCacheFileName(config);
     repositoryCache = config.repositoryCache;
-    if (repositoryCache !== 'enabled') {
-      logger.debug('Skipping repository cache');
-      cache = {};
-      return;
+    if (repositoryCache === 'enabled') {
+      cache = validate(
+        config,
+        JSON.parse(await fs.readFile(cacheFileName, 'utf8'))
+      );
     }
-    cache = JSON.parse(await fs.readFile(cacheFileName, 'utf8'));
-    logger.debug({ cacheFileName }, 'Read repository cache');
   } catch (err) {
     logger.debug({ cacheFileName }, 'No repository cache found');
-    cache = {};
   }
+  cache = cache || { repository: config.repository };
 }
 
 export function getCache(): Cache {