diff --git a/line-range.c b/line-range.c
index 955a8a9535..47bf0d6f1a 100644
--- a/line-range.c
+++ b/line-range.c
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ static const char *find_funcname_matching_regexp(xdemitconf_t *xecfg, const char
 {
 	int reg_error;
 	regmatch_t match[1];
-	while (1) {
+	while (*start) {
 		const char *bol, *eol;
 		reg_error = regexec(regexp, start, 1, match, 0);
 		if (reg_error == REG_NOMATCH)
@@ -148,8 +148,8 @@ static const char *find_funcname_matching_regexp(xdemitconf_t *xecfg, const char
 		/* determine extent of line matched */
 		bol = start+match[0].rm_so;
 		eol = start+match[0].rm_eo;
-		while (bol > start && *bol != '\n')
-			bol--;
+		while (bol > start && *--bol != '\n')
+			; /* nothing */
 		if (*bol == '\n')
 			bol++;
 		while (*eol && *eol != '\n')
@@ -161,6 +161,7 @@ static const char *find_funcname_matching_regexp(xdemitconf_t *xecfg, const char
 			return bol;
 		start = eol;
 	}
+	return NULL;
 }
 
 static const char *parse_range_funcname(
diff --git a/t/t4211-line-log.sh b/t/t4211-line-log.sh
index ac9e4d0928..c6540e822f 100755
--- a/t/t4211-line-log.sh
+++ b/t/t4211-line-log.sh
@@ -315,4 +315,26 @@ test_expect_success 'line-log with --before' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'setup tests for zero-width regular expressions' '
+	cat >expect <<-EOF
+	Modify func1() in file.c
+	Add func1() and func2() in file.c
+	EOF
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'zero-width regex $ matches any function name' '
+	git log --format="%s" --no-patch "-L:$:file.c" >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'zero-width regex ^ matches any function name' '
+	git log --format="%s" --no-patch "-L:^:file.c" >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'zero-width regex .* matches any function name' '
+	git log --format="%s" --no-patch "-L:.*:file.c" >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_done