diff --git a/cmd/git-sync/main.go b/cmd/git-sync/main.go
index 7832b00..3a7d757 100644
--- a/cmd/git-sync/main.go
+++ b/cmd/git-sync/main.go
@@ -472,6 +472,7 @@ func setupGitSSH() error {
 	log.V(1).Infof("setting up git SSH credentials")
 
 	var pathToSSHSecret = "/etc/git-secret/ssh"
+	var pathToSSHKnownHosts = "/etc/git-secret/known_hosts"
 
 	fileInfo, err := os.Stat(pathToSSHSecret)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -483,7 +484,7 @@ func setupGitSSH() error {
 	}
 
 	//set env variable GIT_SSH_COMMAND to force git use customized ssh command
-	err = os.Setenv("GIT_SSH_COMMAND", fmt.Sprintf("ssh -q -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -i %s", pathToSSHSecret))
+	err = os.Setenv("GIT_SSH_COMMAND", fmt.Sprintf("ssh -q -o UserKnownHostsFile=%s -i %s", pathToSSHKnownHosts, pathToSSHSecret))
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("Failed to set the GIT_SSH_COMMAND env var: %v", err)
 	}
diff --git a/docs/ssh.md b/docs/ssh.md
index a97eff7..fca85bd 100644
--- a/docs/ssh.md
+++ b/docs/ssh.md
@@ -6,15 +6,21 @@ Git-sync supports using the SSH protocol for pulling git content.
 Create a Secret to store your SSH private key, with the Secret keyed as "ssh". This can be done one of two ways:
 
 ***Method 1:***
+Obtain the host keys for your git server:
+
+```
+ssh-keyscan $YOUR_GIT_HOST > /tmp/known_hosts
+```
 
 Use the ``kubectl create secret`` command and point to the file on your filesystem that stores the key. Ensure that the file is mapped to "ssh" as shown (the file can be located anywhere).
+
 ```
-kubectl create secret generic git-creds --from-file=ssh=~/.ssh/id_rsa
+kubectl create secret generic git-creds --from-file=ssh=~/.ssh/id_rsa --from-file=known_hosts=/tmp/known_hosts
 ```
 
 ***Method 2:***
 
-Write a config file for a Secret that holds your SSH private key, with the key (pasted as plaintext) mapped to the "ssh" field.
+Write a config file for a Secret that holds your SSH private key, with the key (pasted in base64 encoded plaintext) mapped to the "ssh" field.
 ```
 {
   "kind": "Secret",
@@ -23,7 +29,8 @@ Write a config file for a Secret that holds your SSH private key, with the key (
     "name": "git-creds"
   },
   "data": {
-    "ssh": <private-key>
+    "ssh": <base64 encoded private-key>
+    "known_hosts": <base64 encoded known_hosts>
 }
 ```