diff --git a/Documentation/git-commit.txt b/Documentation/git-commit.txt
index 0eb79ccdba6b74..24a99ccc992555 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-commit.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-commit.txt
@@ -172,16 +172,25 @@ OPTIONS
        linkgit:git-commit-tree[1].
 
 --cleanup=<mode>::
-	This option sets how the commit message is cleaned up.
-	The  '<mode>' can be one of 'verbatim', 'whitespace', 'strip',
-	and 'default'. The 'default' mode will strip leading and
-	trailing empty lines and #commentary from the commit message
-	only if the message is to be edited. Otherwise only whitespace
-	removed. The 'verbatim' mode does not change message at all,
-	'whitespace' removes just leading/trailing whitespace lines
-	and 'strip' removes both whitespace and commentary. The default
-	can be changed by the 'commit.cleanup' configuration variable
-	(see linkgit:git-config[1]).
+	This option determines how the supplied commit message should be
+	cleaned up before committing.  The '<mode>' can be `strip`,
+	`whitespace`, `verbatim`, or `default`.
++
+--
+strip::
+	Strip leading and trailing empty lines, trailing whitespace, and
+	#commentary and collapse consecutive empty lines.
+whitespace::
+	Same as `strip` except #commentary is not removed.
+verbatim::
+	Do not change the message at all.
+default::
+	Same as `strip` if the message is to be edited.
+	Otherwise `whitespace`.
+--
++
+The default can be changed by the 'commit.cleanup' configuration
+variable (see linkgit:git-config[1]).
 
 -e::
 --edit::
diff --git a/builtin/commit.c b/builtin/commit.c
index 3348aa14e9d5a7..d21d07a1a8e9fb 100644
--- a/builtin/commit.c
+++ b/builtin/commit.c
@@ -124,8 +124,10 @@ static int opt_parse_m(const struct option *opt, const char *arg, int unset)
 	if (unset)
 		strbuf_setlen(buf, 0);
 	else {
+		if (buf->len)
+			strbuf_addch(buf, '\n');
 		strbuf_addstr(buf, arg);
-		strbuf_addstr(buf, "\n\n");
+		strbuf_complete_line(buf);
 	}
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/t/t7502-commit.sh b/t/t7502-commit.sh
index cbd7a45927eb2d..292bc082b2ecc7 100755
--- a/t/t7502-commit.sh
+++ b/t/t7502-commit.sh
@@ -177,12 +177,20 @@ test_expect_success 'verbose respects diff config' '
 	git config --unset color.diff
 '
 
+mesg_with_comment_and_newlines='
+# text
+
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'prepare file with comment line and trailing newlines'  '
+	printf "%s" "$mesg_with_comment_and_newlines" >expect
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'cleanup commit messages (verbatim option,-t)' '
 
 	echo >>negative &&
-	{ echo;echo "# text";echo; } >expect &&
-	git commit --cleanup=verbatim -t expect -a &&
-	git cat-file -p HEAD |sed -e "1,/^\$/d" |head -n 3 >actual &&
+	git commit --cleanup=verbatim --no-status -t expect -a &&
+	git cat-file -p HEAD |sed -e "1,/^\$/d" >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
 
 '
@@ -199,7 +207,7 @@ test_expect_success 'cleanup commit messages (verbatim option,-F)' '
 test_expect_success 'cleanup commit messages (verbatim option,-m)' '
 
 	echo >>negative &&
-	git commit --cleanup=verbatim -m "$(cat expect)" -a &&
+	git commit --cleanup=verbatim -m "$mesg_with_comment_and_newlines" -a &&
 	git cat-file -p HEAD |sed -e "1,/^\$/d">actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual