diff --git a/Documentation/git-shortlog.txt b/Documentation/git-shortlog.txt
index ee6c5476c1..5e35ea18ac 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-shortlog.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-shortlog.txt
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@ git-shortlog - Summarize 'git log' output
 SYNOPSIS
 --------
 [verse]
-git log --pretty=short | 'git shortlog' [<options>]
 'git shortlog' [<options>] [<revision range>] [[\--] <path>...]
+git log --pretty=short | 'git shortlog' [<options>]
 
 DESCRIPTION
 -----------
diff --git a/builtin/shortlog.c b/builtin/shortlog.c
index e29875b843..3a823b3128 100644
--- a/builtin/shortlog.c
+++ b/builtin/shortlog.c
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@
 #include "parse-options.h"
 
 static char const * const shortlog_usage[] = {
-	N_("git shortlog [<options>] [<revision-range>] [[--] [<path>...]]"),
+	N_("git shortlog [<options>] [<revision-range>] [[--] <path>...]"),
+	N_("git log --pretty=short | git shortlog [<options>]"),
 	NULL
 };
 
@@ -292,6 +293,11 @@ int cmd_shortlog(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 parse_done:
 	argc = parse_options_end(&ctx);
 
+	if (nongit && argc > 1) {
+		error(_("too many arguments given outside repository"));
+		usage_with_options(shortlog_usage, options);
+	}
+
 	if (setup_revisions(argc, argv, &rev, NULL) != 1) {
 		error(_("unrecognized argument: %s"), argv[1]);
 		usage_with_options(shortlog_usage, options);
diff --git a/t/t4201-shortlog.sh b/t/t4201-shortlog.sh
index da10478f59..ff6649ed9a 100755
--- a/t/t4201-shortlog.sh
+++ b/t/t4201-shortlog.sh
@@ -127,6 +127,11 @@ test_expect_success !MINGW 'shortlog can read --format=raw output' '
 	test_cmp expect out
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'shortlog from non-git directory refuses extra arguments' '
+	test_must_fail env GIT_DIR=non-existing git shortlog foo 2>out &&
+	test_i18ngrep "too many arguments" out
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'shortlog should add newline when input line matches wraplen' '
 	cat >expect <<\EOF &&
 A U Thor (2):