diff --git a/eng/update-dependencies/FromStagingPipelineCommand.cs b/eng/update-dependencies/FromStagingPipelineCommand.cs
index 17009a08eb..7e5ede5e77 100644
--- a/eng/update-dependencies/FromStagingPipelineCommand.cs
+++ b/eng/update-dependencies/FromStagingPipelineCommand.cs
@@ -244,8 +244,8 @@ public static async Task<GitRepoContext> CreateAsync(
                 var prBranch = options.CreatePrBranchName($"update-deps-int-{options.StageContainer}", buildId);
                 var committer = options.GetCommitterIdentity();
 
-                // Clone the repo
-                var git = await gitRepoFactory.CreateAndCloneAsync(remoteUrl);
+                // Clone the repo and configure git identity for commits
+                var git = await gitRepoFactory.CreateAndCloneAsync(remoteUrl, gitIdentity: committer);
                 // Ensure the branch we want to modify exists, then check it out
                 await git.Remote.EnsureBranchExistsAsync(targetBranch);
                 // Create a new branch to push changes to and create a PR from
diff --git a/eng/update-dependencies/Git/GitRepoHelperFactory.cs b/eng/update-dependencies/Git/GitRepoHelperFactory.cs
index 318f27a6ed..85224059a8 100644
--- a/eng/update-dependencies/Git/GitRepoHelperFactory.cs
+++ b/eng/update-dependencies/Git/GitRepoHelperFactory.cs
@@ -23,7 +23,15 @@ internal interface IGitRepoHelperFactory
     /// defaults to a temporary directory. The caller is responsible for
     /// managing/cleaning up the temporary directory.
     /// </param>
-    Task<IGitRepoHelper> CreateAndCloneAsync(string repoUri, string? localCloneDir = null);
+    /// <param name="gitIdentity">
+    /// The git identity (name and email) to configure on the cloned repository.
+    /// This is required for commits to succeed in environments where git is not
+    /// globally configured (e.g., CI/CD pipelines).
+    /// </param>
+    Task<IGitRepoHelper> CreateAndCloneAsync(
+        string repoUri,
+        string? localCloneDir = null,
+        (string Name, string Email)? gitIdentity = null);
 
     /// <summary>
     /// Creates an <see cref="IGitRepoHelper"/> that points to an existing
@@ -54,7 +62,10 @@ IServiceProvider serviceProvider
     private readonly IServiceProvider _serviceProvider = serviceProvider;
 
     /// <inheritdoc/>
-    public async Task<IGitRepoHelper> CreateAndCloneAsync(string repoUri, string? localCloneDir = null)
+    public async Task<IGitRepoHelper> CreateAndCloneAsync(
+        string repoUri,
+        string? localCloneDir = null,
+        (string Name, string Email)? gitIdentity = null)
     {
         localCloneDir ??= Path.Combine(Path.GetTempPath(), Path.GetRandomFileName());
 
@@ -66,7 +77,19 @@ await _gitRepoCloner.CloneAsync(
             gitDirectory: null);
         _logger.LogInformation("Cloned '{RepoUri}' to '{LocalCloneDir}'", repoUri, localCloneDir);
 
-        return CreateFromLocal(repoUri, localCloneDir);
+        var gitRepoHelper = CreateFromLocal(repoUri, localCloneDir);
+
+        if (gitIdentity is { } identity)
+        {
+            var localGitRepo = _localGitRepoFactory.Create(new NativePath(localCloneDir));
+            await localGitRepo.SetConfigValue("user.name", identity.Name);
+            await localGitRepo.SetConfigValue("user.email", identity.Email);
+            _logger.LogInformation(
+                "Configured git identity: {Name} <{Email}>",
+                identity.Name, identity.Email);
+        }
+
+        return gitRepoHelper;
     }
 
     /// <inheritdoc/>
diff --git a/eng/update-dependencies/Sync/SyncInternalReleaseCommand.cs b/eng/update-dependencies/Sync/SyncInternalReleaseCommand.cs
index 40eb381506..b2d342eece 100644
--- a/eng/update-dependencies/Sync/SyncInternalReleaseCommand.cs
+++ b/eng/update-dependencies/Sync/SyncInternalReleaseCommand.cs
@@ -43,7 +43,14 @@ public override async Task<int> ExecuteAsync(SyncInternalReleaseOptions options)
                 $"The source branch '{options.SourceBranch}' cannot be an internal branch.");
         }
 
-        using var repo = await _gitRepoHelperFactory.CreateAndCloneAsync(remoteUrl);
+        // Get git identity if available (required for commits, optional for read-only operations)
+        var gitIdentity = !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(options.User) && !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(options.Email)
+            ? options.GetCommitterIdentity()
+            : ((string, string)?)null;
+
+        using var repo = await _gitRepoHelperFactory.CreateAndCloneAsync(
+            remoteUrl,
+            gitIdentity: gitIdentity);
 
         // Verify that the source branch exists on the remote.
         var sourceBranchExists = await repo.Remote.RemoteBranchExistsAsync(options.SourceBranch);
diff --git a/tests/UpdateDependencies.Tests/SyncInternalReleaseTests.cs b/tests/UpdateDependencies.Tests/SyncInternalReleaseTests.cs
index 9f3a710864..352fb25012 100644
--- a/tests/UpdateDependencies.Tests/SyncInternalReleaseTests.cs
+++ b/tests/UpdateDependencies.Tests/SyncInternalReleaseTests.cs
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ public async Task CreateInternalBranch()
 
         var repoMock = new Mock<IGitRepoHelper>();
         var repoFactoryMock = new Mock<IGitRepoHelperFactory>();
-        repoFactoryMock.Setup(f => f.CreateAndCloneAsync(options.GetAzdoRepoUrl(), null)).ReturnsAsync(repoMock.Object);
+        repoFactoryMock.Setup(f => f.CreateAndCloneAsync(options.GetAzdoRepoUrl(), null, It.IsAny<(string, string)?>())).ReturnsAsync(repoMock.Object);
 
         // Setup:
         // Target branch does not exist on remote
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ public async Task AlreadyUpToDate()
         // not explicitly set up in this test.
         var repoMock = new Mock<IGitRepoHelper>(MockBehavior.Strict);
         var repoFactoryMock = new Mock<IGitRepoHelperFactory>();
-        repoFactoryMock.Setup(f => f.CreateAndCloneAsync(options.GetAzdoRepoUrl(), null)).ReturnsAsync(repoMock.Object);
+        repoFactoryMock.Setup(f => f.CreateAndCloneAsync(options.GetAzdoRepoUrl(), null, It.IsAny<(string, string)?>())).ReturnsAsync(repoMock.Object);
 
         // Setup: Both target and source branches exist on remote.
         repoMock.Setup(r => r.Remote.RemoteBranchExistsAsync(options.TargetBranch)).ReturnsAsync(true);
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ public async Task FastForward()
         repoMock.Setup(r => r.Remote).Returns(remoteRepoMock.Object);
 
         var repoFactoryMock = new Mock<IGitRepoHelperFactory>();
-        repoFactoryMock.Setup(f => f.CreateAndCloneAsync(options.GetAzdoRepoUrl(), null)).ReturnsAsync(repoMock.Object);
+        repoFactoryMock.Setup(f => f.CreateAndCloneAsync(options.GetAzdoRepoUrl(), null, It.IsAny<(string, string)?>())).ReturnsAsync(repoMock.Object);
 
         // Setup: Both target and source branches exist on remote.
         repoMock.Setup(r => r.Remote.RemoteBranchExistsAsync(options.TargetBranch)).ReturnsAsync(true);
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ private class GitTestScenario
         public GitTestScenario(string localRepoPath, string remoteRepoUrl)
         {
             RepoMock.Setup(r => r.Local.LocalPath).Returns(localRepoPath);
-            RepoFactoryMock.Setup(f => f.CreateAndCloneAsync(remoteRepoUrl, null)).ReturnsAsync(RepoMock.Object);
+            RepoFactoryMock.Setup(f => f.CreateAndCloneAsync(remoteRepoUrl, null, It.IsAny<(string, string)?>())).ReturnsAsync(RepoMock.Object);
         }
 
         /// <summary>