diff --git a/copier/main.py b/copier/main.py
index a40121f84..8d51d9455 100644
--- a/copier/main.py
+++ b/copier/main.py
@@ -898,7 +898,10 @@ def _apply_update(self):
                 ignored_files = git["status", "--ignored", "--porcelain"]()
                 # returns "!! file1\n !! file2\n"
                 # extra_exclude will contain: ["file1", file2"]
-                extra_exclude = [filename.split('!! ').pop() for filename in ignored_files.split("\n")][:-1]
+                extra_exclude = [
+                    filename.split("!! ").pop()
+                    for filename in ignored_files.splitlines()
+                ]
                 for skip_pattern in chain(
                     self.skip_if_exists, self.template.skip_if_exists, extra_exclude
                 ):
diff --git a/tests/test_updatediff.py b/tests/test_updatediff.py
index fd69d556c..6073d394a 100644
--- a/tests/test_updatediff.py
+++ b/tests/test_updatediff.py
@@ -651,8 +651,8 @@ def test_file_removed(tmp_path_factory: pytest.TempPathFactory) -> None:
         git("tag", "2")
     # Subproject updates
     with local.cwd(dst):
-        # git ignore a file
-        Path(".git/info/exclude").write_text("toignore.txt")
+        Path(".gitignore").write_text("toignore.txt")
+        git("commit", "-Am", "ignore file")
         with pytest.raises(
             UserMessageError, match="Enable overwrite to update a subproject."
         ):