diff --git a/zulip/integrations/git/git_utility.py b/zulip/integrations/git/git_utility.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c5810cdf0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zulip/integrations/git/git_utility.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+from typing import List
+
+EMPTY_SHA = "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000"
+COMMIT_ROW_TEMPLATE = '* {user_name} commited {commit_msg} ([{commit_short_sha}]({commit_url}))\n'
+
+def extract_commit_data(raw_commit: str) -> List[str]:
+    author_start = len("-[AUTHOR]=")
+    author_end = raw_commit.find("-[COMMIT]=")
+    author = raw_commit[author_start:author_end]
+    raw_commit = raw_commit[author_end:]
+
+    commit_start = len("-[COMMIT]=")
+    commit_end = raw_commit.find("-[SUBJECT]=")
+    commit = raw_commit[commit_start:commit_end]
+    raw_commit = raw_commit[commit_end:]
+
+    subject_start = len("-[SUBJECT]=")
+    subject = raw_commit[subject_start:]
+
+    return [author, commit, subject]
diff --git a/zulip/integrations/git/post-receive b/zulip/integrations/git/post-receive
index 95e7633ba..56b267094 100755
--- a/zulip/integrations/git/post-receive
+++ b/zulip/integrations/git/post-receive
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import os
 import sys
 import subprocess
 import os.path
+import git_utility as git
 
 sys.path.insert(0, os.path.dirname(__file__))
 import zulip_git_config as config
@@ -37,15 +38,21 @@ def git_repository_name() -> Text:
         return os.path.basename(os.path.dirname(os.getcwd()))
 
 def git_commit_range(oldrev: str, newrev: str) -> str:
+    remote_repo_cmd = ["git", "config", "--get", "remote.origin.url"]
+    remote_repo_url = subprocess.check_output(remote_repo_cmd).strip().decode("utf-8")
+
     log_cmd = ["git", "log", "--reverse",
-               "--pretty=%aE %H %s", "%s..%s" % (oldrev, newrev)]
+               "--pretty=-[AUTHOR]=%aN-[COMMIT]=%H-[SUBJECT]=%s", "%s..%s" % (oldrev, newrev)]
     commits = ''
     for ln in subprocess.check_output(log_cmd, universal_newlines=True).splitlines():
-        author_email, commit_id, subject  = ln.split(None, 2)
-        if hasattr(config, "format_commit_message"):
-            commits += config.format_commit_message(author_email, subject, commit_id)
-        else:
-            commits += '!avatar(%s) %s\n' % (author_email, subject)
+        author, commit_sha, subject  = git.extract_commit_data(ln)
+        commits += git.COMMIT_ROW_TEMPLATE.format(
+            user_name=author,
+            commit_short_sha=commit_sha[:7],
+            commit_url="{}/commit/{}".format(remote_repo_url, commit_sha),
+            commit_msg=subject,
+        )
+
     return commits
 
 def send_bot_message(oldrev: str, newrev: str, refname: str) -> None:
@@ -59,10 +66,7 @@ def send_bot_message(oldrev: str, newrev: str, refname: str) -> None:
     new_head = newrev[:12]
     old_head = oldrev[:12]
 
-    if (
-        oldrev == '0000000000000000000000000000000000000000'
-        or newrev == '0000000000000000000000000000000000000000'
-    ):
+    if (oldrev == git.EMPTY_SHA or newrev == git.EMPTY_SHA):
         # New branch pushed or old branch removed
         added = ''
         removed = ''
@@ -70,9 +74,9 @@ def send_bot_message(oldrev: str, newrev: str, refname: str) -> None:
         added   = git_commit_range(oldrev, newrev)
         removed = git_commit_range(newrev, oldrev)
 
-    if oldrev == '0000000000000000000000000000000000000000':
+    if oldrev == git.EMPTY_SHA:
         message = '`%s` was pushed to new branch `%s`' % (new_head, branch)
-    elif newrev == '0000000000000000000000000000000000000000':
+    elif newrev == git.EMPTY_SHA:
         message = 'branch `%s` was removed (was `%s`)' % (branch, old_head)
     elif removed:
         message = '`%s` was pushed to `%s`, **REMOVING**:\n\n%s' % (new_head, branch, removed)
diff --git a/zulip/integrations/git/zulip_git_config.py b/zulip/integrations/git/zulip_git_config.py
index 15a93834e..93ea2d9de 100644
--- a/zulip/integrations/git/zulip_git_config.py
+++ b/zulip/integrations/git/zulip_git_config.py
@@ -31,14 +31,6 @@ def commit_notice_destination(repo: Text, branch: Text, commit: Text) -> Optiona
     # Return None for cases where you don't want a notice sent
     return None
 
-# Modify this function to change how commits are displayed; the most
-# common customization is to include a link to the commit in your
-# graphical repository viewer, e.g.
-#
-# return '!avatar(%s) [%s](https://example.com/commits/%s)\n' % (author, subject, commit_id)
-def format_commit_message(author: Text, subject: Text, commit_id: Text) -> Text:
-    return '!avatar(%s) %s\n' % (author, subject)
-
 ## If properly installed, the Zulip API should be in your import
 ## path, but if not, set a custom path below
 ZULIP_API_PATH = None