diff --git a/line-log.c b/line-log.c
index 9010e00950..520ee715bc 100644
--- a/line-log.c
+++ b/line-log.c
@@ -1227,7 +1227,7 @@ static int process_ranges_merge_commit(struct rev_info *rev, struct commit *comm
 	/* NEEDSWORK leaking like a sieve */
 }
 
-static int process_ranges_arbitrary_commit(struct rev_info *rev, struct commit *commit)
+int line_log_process_ranges_arbitrary_commit(struct rev_info *rev, struct commit *commit)
 {
 	struct line_log_data *range = lookup_line_range(rev, commit);
 	int changed = 0;
@@ -1270,7 +1270,7 @@ int line_log_filter(struct rev_info *rev)
 	while (list) {
 		struct commit_list *to_free = NULL;
 		commit = list->item;
-		if (process_ranges_arbitrary_commit(rev, commit)) {
+		if (line_log_process_ranges_arbitrary_commit(rev, commit)) {
 			*pp = list;
 			pp = &list->next;
 		} else
diff --git a/line-log.h b/line-log.h
index 882c5055bb..82ae8d98a4 100644
--- a/line-log.h
+++ b/line-log.h
@@ -54,6 +54,8 @@ struct line_log_data {
 void line_log_init(struct rev_info *rev, const char *prefix, struct string_list *args);
 
 int line_log_filter(struct rev_info *rev);
+int line_log_process_ranges_arbitrary_commit(struct rev_info *rev,
+						    struct commit *commit);
 
 int line_log_print(struct rev_info *rev, struct commit *commit);
 
diff --git a/revision.c b/revision.c
index f78c636e4d..3228db9af6 100644
--- a/revision.c
+++ b/revision.c
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ static const char *term_good;
 
 implement_shared_commit_slab(revision_sources, char *);
 
+static inline int want_ancestry(const struct rev_info *revs);
+
 void show_object_with_name(FILE *out, struct object *obj, const char *name)
 {
 	const char *p;
@@ -3511,7 +3513,14 @@ int prepare_revision_walk(struct rev_info *revs)
 			sort_in_topological_order(&revs->commits, revs->sort_order);
 	} else if (revs->topo_order)
 		init_topo_walk(revs);
-	if (revs->line_level_traverse)
+	if (revs->line_level_traverse && want_ancestry(revs))
+		/*
+		 * At the moment we can only do line-level log with parent
+		 * rewriting by performing this expensive pre-filtering step.
+		 * If parent rewriting is not requested, then we rather
+		 * perform the line-level log filtering during the regular
+		 * history traversal.
+		 */
 		line_log_filter(revs);
 	if (revs->simplify_merges)
 		simplify_merges(revs);
@@ -3722,6 +3731,22 @@ enum commit_action get_commit_action(struct rev_info *revs, struct commit *commi
 		return commit_ignore;
 	if (commit->object.flags & UNINTERESTING)
 		return commit_ignore;
+	if (revs->line_level_traverse && !want_ancestry(revs)) {
+		/*
+		 * In case of line-level log with parent rewriting
+		 * prepare_revision_walk() already took care of all line-level
+		 * log filtering, and there is nothing left to do here.
+		 *
+		 * If parent rewriting was not requested, then this is the
+		 * place to perform the line-level log filtering.  Notably,
+		 * this check, though expensive, must come before the other,
+		 * cheaper filtering conditions, because the tracked line
+		 * ranges must be adjusted even when the commit will end up
+		 * being ignored based on other conditions.
+		 */
+		if (!line_log_process_ranges_arbitrary_commit(revs, commit))
+			return commit_ignore;
+	}
 	if (revs->min_age != -1 &&
 	    comparison_date(revs, commit) > revs->min_age)
 			return commit_ignore;
diff --git a/t/t4211-line-log.sh b/t/t4211-line-log.sh
index ea4a939836..1428eae262 100755
--- a/t/t4211-line-log.sh
+++ b/t/t4211-line-log.sh
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ test_expect_success 'setup for checking line-log and parent oids' '
 '
 
 # Parent oid should be from immediate parent.
-test_expect_failure 'parent oids without parent rewriting' '
+test_expect_success 'parent oids without parent rewriting' '
 	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
 	$head_oid $prev_oid Modify func2() in file.c
 	$root_oid  Add func1() and func2() in file.c