diff --git a/app/src/main/java/org/fdroid/fdroid/Preferences.java b/app/src/main/java/org/fdroid/fdroid/Preferences.java
index cfe402d47..79ac07f55 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/org/fdroid/fdroid/Preferences.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/org/fdroid/fdroid/Preferences.java
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ public final class Preferences implements SharedPreferences.OnSharedPreferenceCh
     public static final String PREF_PROXY_PORT = "proxyPort";
     public static final String PREF_SHOW_NFC_DURING_SWAP = "showNfcDuringSwap";
     public static final String PREF_POST_PRIVILEGED_INSTALL = "postPrivilegedInstall";
+    public static final String PREF_TRIED_EMPTY_UPDATE = "triedEmptyUpdate";
 
     private static final boolean DEFAULT_ROOTED = true;
     private static final boolean DEFAULT_HIDE_ANTI_FEATURE_APPS = false;
@@ -182,6 +183,20 @@ public final class Preferences implements SharedPreferences.OnSharedPreferenceCh
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Used the first time F-Droid is installed to flag whether or not we have tried to request
+     * apps from the repo. This is used so that when there is no apps available, we can differentiate
+     * between whether the repos actually have no apps (in which case we don't need to continue
+     * asking), or whether there is no apps because we have never actually asked to update the repos.
+     */
+    public boolean hasTriedEmptyUpdate() {
+        return preferences.getBoolean(PREF_TRIED_EMPTY_UPDATE, false);
+    }
+
+    public void setTriedEmptyUpdate(boolean value) {
+        preferences.edit().putBoolean(PREF_TRIED_EMPTY_UPDATE, value).apply();
+    }
+
     public boolean getUnstableUpdates() {
         return preferences.getBoolean(PREF_UNSTABLE_UPDATES, DEFAULT_UNSTABLE_UPDATES);
     }
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/org/fdroid/fdroid/data/DBHelper.java b/app/src/main/java/org/fdroid/fdroid/data/DBHelper.java
index 76a4f9312..223a2197b 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/org/fdroid/fdroid/data/DBHelper.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/org/fdroid/fdroid/data/DBHelper.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import android.content.Context;
 import android.database.Cursor;
 import android.database.sqlite.SQLiteDatabase;
 import android.database.sqlite.SQLiteOpenHelper;
+import android.preference.PreferenceManager;
 import android.text.TextUtils;
 import android.util.Log;
 
@@ -880,7 +881,8 @@ class DBHelper extends SQLiteOpenHelper {
 
     private void resetTransient(SQLiteDatabase db) {
         Utils.debugLog(TAG, "Removing app + apk tables so they can be recreated. Next time F-Droid updates it should trigger an index update.");
-        context.getSharedPreferences("FDroid", Context.MODE_PRIVATE)
+
+        PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(context)
                 .edit()
                 .putBoolean("triedEmptyUpdate", false)
                 .apply();
@@ -924,8 +926,12 @@ class DBHelper extends SQLiteOpenHelper {
         if (oldVersion >= 42) {
             return;
         }
-        context.getSharedPreferences("FDroid", Context.MODE_PRIVATE).edit()
-                .putBoolean("triedEmptyUpdate", false).apply();
+
+        PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(context)
+                .edit()
+                .putBoolean("triedEmptyUpdate", false)
+                .apply();
+
         db.execSQL("drop table " + AppMetadataTable.NAME);
         db.execSQL("drop table " + ApkTable.NAME);
         clearRepoEtags(db);
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/org/fdroid/fdroid/views/fragments/AppListFragment.java b/app/src/main/java/org/fdroid/fdroid/views/fragments/AppListFragment.java
index 702b2470d..3a91af37c 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/org/fdroid/fdroid/views/fragments/AppListFragment.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/org/fdroid/fdroid/views/fragments/AppListFragment.java
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 package org.fdroid.fdroid.views.fragments;
 
-import android.content.Context;
 import android.content.Intent;
-import android.content.SharedPreferences;
 import android.database.Cursor;
 import android.net.Uri;
 import android.os.Build;
@@ -143,12 +141,10 @@ public abstract class AppListFragment extends ListFragment implements
      * be bad.
      */
     private boolean updateEmptyRepos() {
-        final String triedEmptyUpdate = "triedEmptyUpdate";
-        SharedPreferences prefs = getActivity().getPreferences(Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
-        boolean hasTriedEmptyUpdate = prefs.getBoolean(triedEmptyUpdate, false);
-        if (!hasTriedEmptyUpdate) {
+        Preferences prefs = Preferences.get();
+        if (!prefs.hasTriedEmptyUpdate()) {
             Utils.debugLog(TAG, "Empty app list, and we haven't done an update yet. Forcing repo update.");
-            prefs.edit().putBoolean(triedEmptyUpdate, true).apply();
+            prefs.setTriedEmptyUpdate(true);
             UpdateService.updateNow(getActivity());
             return true;
         }
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/org/fdroid/fdroid/views/main/MainActivity.java b/app/src/main/java/org/fdroid/fdroid/views/main/MainActivity.java
index b4d2c2322..8d62b8f9b 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/org/fdroid/fdroid/views/main/MainActivity.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/org/fdroid/fdroid/views/main/MainActivity.java
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package org.fdroid.fdroid.views.main;
 import android.app.SearchManager;
 import android.content.Context;
 import android.content.Intent;
-import android.content.SharedPreferences;
 import android.net.Uri;
 import android.os.Bundle;
 import android.support.annotation.NonNull;
@@ -19,6 +18,7 @@ import org.fdroid.fdroid.AppDetails;
 import org.fdroid.fdroid.AppDetails2;
 import org.fdroid.fdroid.FDroidApp;
 import org.fdroid.fdroid.NfcHelper;
+import org.fdroid.fdroid.Preferences;
 import org.fdroid.fdroid.R;
 import org.fdroid.fdroid.UpdateService;
 import org.fdroid.fdroid.Utils;
@@ -85,12 +85,10 @@ public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity implements BottomNavigationV
      * don't try to do it automatically again.
      */
     private void initialRepoUpdateIfRequired() {
-        final String triedEmptyUpdate = "triedEmptyUpdate";
-        SharedPreferences prefs = getPreferences(Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
-        boolean hasTriedEmptyUpdate = prefs.getBoolean(triedEmptyUpdate, false);
-        if (!hasTriedEmptyUpdate) {
+        Preferences prefs = Preferences.get();
+        if (!prefs.hasTriedEmptyUpdate()) {
             Utils.debugLog(TAG, "We haven't done an update yet. Forcing repo update.");
-            prefs.edit().putBoolean(triedEmptyUpdate, true).apply();
+            prefs.setTriedEmptyUpdate(true);
             UpdateService.updateNow(this);
         }
     }