diff --git a/Documentation/git-apply.txt b/Documentation/git-apply.txt
index a32ad64718..b6d77f4206 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-apply.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-apply.txt
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ SYNOPSIS
 	  [--ignore-space-change | --ignore-whitespace]
 	  [--whitespace=(nowarn|warn|fix|error|error-all)]
 	  [--exclude=<path>] [--include=<path>] [--directory=<root>]
-	  [--verbose | --quiet] [--unsafe-paths] [<patch>...]
+	  [--verbose | --quiet] [--unsafe-paths] [--allow-empty] [<patch>...]
 
 DESCRIPTION
 -----------
@@ -256,6 +256,10 @@ When `git apply` is used as a "better GNU patch", the user can pass
 the `--unsafe-paths` option to override this safety check.  This option
 has no effect when `--index` or `--cached` is in use.
 
+--allow-empty::
+	Don't return error for patches containing no diff. This includes
+	empty patches and patches with commit text only.
+
 CONFIGURATION
 -------------
 
diff --git a/apply.c b/apply.c
index 0392f42066..fed195250b 100644
--- a/apply.c
+++ b/apply.c
@@ -4752,8 +4752,10 @@ static int apply_patch(struct apply_state *state,
 	}
 
 	if (!list && !skipped_patch) {
-		error(_("unrecognized input"));
-		res = -128;
+		if (!state->allow_empty) {
+			error(_("No valid patches in input (allow with \"--allow-empty\")"));
+			res = -128;
+		}
 		goto end;
 	}
 
@@ -5081,6 +5083,8 @@ int apply_parse_options(int argc, const char **argv,
 		OPT_CALLBACK(0, "directory", state, N_("root"),
 			N_("prepend <root> to all filenames"),
 			apply_option_parse_directory),
+		OPT_BOOL(0, "allow-empty", &state->allow_empty,
+			N_("don't return error for empty patches")),
 		OPT_END()
 	};
 
diff --git a/apply.h b/apply.h
index da3d95fa50..16202da160 100644
--- a/apply.h
+++ b/apply.h
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ struct apply_state {
 	int threeway;
 	int unidiff_zero;
 	int unsafe_paths;
+	int allow_empty;
 
 	/* Other non boolean parameters */
 	struct repository *repo;
diff --git a/t/t4126-apply-empty.sh b/t/t4126-apply-empty.sh
index ceb6a79fe0..949e284d14 100755
--- a/t/t4126-apply-empty.sh
+++ b/t/t4126-apply-empty.sh
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ test_expect_success setup '
 	git add empty &&
 	test_tick &&
 	git commit -m initial &&
+	git commit --allow-empty -m "empty commit" &&
+	git format-patch --always HEAD~ >empty.patch &&
 	for i in a b c d e
 	do
 		echo $i
@@ -25,30 +27,42 @@ test_expect_success setup '
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'apply empty' '
-	git reset --hard &&
 	rm -f missing &&
+	test_when_finished "git reset --hard" &&
 	git apply patch0 &&
 	test_cmp expect empty
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'apply empty patch fails' '
+	test_when_finished "git reset --hard" &&
+	test_must_fail git apply empty.patch &&
+	test_must_fail git apply - </dev/null
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'apply with --allow-empty succeeds' '
+	test_when_finished "git reset --hard" &&
+	git apply --allow-empty empty.patch &&
+	git apply --allow-empty - </dev/null
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'apply --index empty' '
-	git reset --hard &&
 	rm -f missing &&
+	test_when_finished "git reset --hard" &&
 	git apply --index patch0 &&
 	test_cmp expect empty &&
 	git diff --exit-code
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'apply create' '
-	git reset --hard &&
 	rm -f missing &&
+	test_when_finished "git reset --hard" &&
 	git apply patch1 &&
 	test_cmp expect missing
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'apply --index create' '
-	git reset --hard &&
 	rm -f missing &&
+	test_when_finished "git reset --hard" &&
 	git apply --index patch1 &&
 	test_cmp expect missing &&
 	git diff --exit-code