diff --git a/sequencer.c b/sequencer.c
index 7f07cd00f3f20a..cc8a361cceb938 100644
--- a/sequencer.c
+++ b/sequencer.c
@@ -3739,10 +3739,9 @@ static struct commit *lookup_label(const char *label, int len,
 static int do_merge(struct repository *r,
 		    struct commit *commit,
 		    const char *arg, int arg_len,
-		    int flags, struct replay_opts *opts)
+		    int flags, int *check_todo, struct replay_opts *opts)
 {
-	int run_commit_flags = (flags & TODO_EDIT_MERGE_MSG) ?
-		EDIT_MSG | VERIFY_MSG : 0;
+	int run_commit_flags = 0;
 	struct strbuf ref_name = STRBUF_INIT;
 	struct commit *head_commit, *merge_commit, *i;
 	struct commit_list *bases, *j, *reversed = NULL;
@@ -3898,10 +3897,9 @@ static int do_merge(struct repository *r,
 		rollback_lock_file(&lock);
 		ret = fast_forward_to(r, &commit->object.oid,
 				      &head_commit->object.oid, 0, opts);
-		if (flags & TODO_EDIT_MERGE_MSG) {
-			run_commit_flags |= AMEND_MSG;
+		if (flags & TODO_EDIT_MERGE_MSG)
 			goto fast_forward_edit;
-		}
+
 		goto leave_merge;
 	}
 
@@ -4035,10 +4033,17 @@ static int do_merge(struct repository *r,
 		 * value (a negative one would indicate that the `merge`
 		 * command needs to be rescheduled).
 		 */
-	fast_forward_edit:
 		ret = !!run_git_commit(git_path_merge_msg(r), opts,
 				       run_commit_flags);
 
+	if (!ret && flags & TODO_EDIT_MERGE_MSG) {
+	fast_forward_edit:
+		*check_todo = 1;
+		run_commit_flags |= AMEND_MSG | EDIT_MSG | VERIFY_MSG;
+		ret = !!run_git_commit(NULL, opts, run_commit_flags);
+	}
+
+
 leave_merge:
 	strbuf_release(&ref_name);
 	rollback_lock_file(&lock);
@@ -4405,9 +4410,8 @@ static int pick_commits(struct repository *r,
 			if ((res = do_reset(r, arg, item->arg_len, opts)))
 				reschedule = 1;
 		} else if (item->command == TODO_MERGE) {
-			if ((res = do_merge(r, item->commit,
-					    arg, item->arg_len,
-					    item->flags, opts)) < 0)
+			if ((res = do_merge(r, item->commit, arg, item->arg_len,
+					    item->flags, &check_todo, opts)) < 0)
 				reschedule = 1;
 			else if (item->commit)
 				record_in_rewritten(&item->commit->object.oid,
diff --git a/t/lib-rebase.sh b/t/lib-rebase.sh
index dc75b834518c8f..99d9e7efd2d4d4 100644
--- a/t/lib-rebase.sh
+++ b/t/lib-rebase.sh
@@ -151,3 +151,53 @@ test_editor_unchanged () {
 	EOF
 	test_cmp expect actual
 }
+
+# Set up an editor for testing reword commands
+# Checks that there are no uncommitted changes when rewording and that the
+# todo-list is reread after each
+set_reword_editor () {
+	>reword-actual &&
+	>reword-oid &&
+
+	# Check rewording keeps the original authorship
+	GIT_AUTHOR_NAME="Reword Author"
+	GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL="reword.author@example.com"
+	GIT_AUTHOR_DATE=@123456
+
+	write_script reword-sequence-editor.sh <<-\EOF &&
+	todo="$(cat "$1")" &&
+	echo "exec git log -1 --pretty=format:'%an <%ae> %at%n%B%n' \
+		>>reword-actual" >"$1" &&
+	printf "%s\n" "$todo" >>"$1"
+	EOF
+
+	write_script reword-editor.sh <<-EOF &&
+	# Save the oid of the first reworded commit so we can check rebase
+	# fast-forwards to it
+	if ! test -s reword-oid
+	then
+		git rev-parse HEAD >reword-oid
+	fi &&
+	# There should be no uncommited changes
+	git diff --exit-code HEAD &&
+	# The todo-list should be re-read after a reword
+	GIT_SEQUENCE_EDITOR="\"$PWD/reword-sequence-editor.sh\"" \
+		git rebase --edit-todo &&
+	echo edited >>"\$1"
+	EOF
+
+	test_set_editor "$PWD/reword-editor.sh"
+}
+
+# Check the results of a rebase after calling set_reword_editor
+# Pass the commits that were reworded in the order that they were picked
+# Expects the first pick to be a fast-forward
+check_reworded_commits () {
+	test_cmp_rev "$(cat reword-oid)" "$1^{commit}" &&
+	git log --format="%an <%ae> %at%n%B%nedited%n" --no-walk=unsorted "$@" \
+		>reword-expected &&
+	test_cmp reword-expected reword-actual &&
+	git log --format="%an <%ae> %at%n%B" -n $# --first-parent --reverse \
+		>reword-log &&
+	test_cmp reword-expected reword-log
+}
diff --git a/t/t3430-rebase-merges.sh b/t/t3430-rebase-merges.sh
index 6748070df52302..183c3a23838072 100755
--- a/t/t3430-rebase-merges.sh
+++ b/t/t3430-rebase-merges.sh
@@ -172,17 +172,19 @@ test_expect_success 'failed `merge <branch>` does not crash' '
 	grep "^Merge branch ${SQ}G${SQ}$" .git/rebase-merge/message
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'fast-forward merge -c still rewords' '
-	git checkout -b fast-forward-merge-c H &&
+test_expect_success 'merge -c commits before rewording and reloads todo-list' '
+	cat >script-from-scratch <<-\EOF &&
+	merge -c E B
+	merge -c H G
+	EOF
+
+	git checkout -b merge-c H &&
 	(
-		set_fake_editor &&
-		FAKE_COMMIT_MESSAGE=edited \
-			GIT_SEQUENCE_EDITOR="echo merge -c H G >" \
-			git rebase -ir @^
+		set_reword_editor &&
+		GIT_SEQUENCE_EDITOR="\"$PWD/replace-editor.sh\"" \
+			git rebase -i -r D
 	) &&
-	echo edited >expected &&
-	git log --pretty=format:%B -1 >actual &&
-	test_cmp expected actual
+	check_reworded_commits E H
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'with a branch tip that was cherry-picked already' '