diff --git a/builtin/merge.c b/builtin/merge.c
index 780b4b9100..e0a3299e92 100644
--- a/builtin/merge.c
+++ b/builtin/merge.c
@@ -383,20 +383,22 @@ static void reset_hard(const struct object_id *oid, int verbose)
 static void restore_state(const struct object_id *head,
 			  const struct object_id *stash)
 {
-	const char *args[] = { "stash", "apply", NULL, NULL };
+	struct strvec args = STRVEC_INIT;
 
 	if (is_null_oid(stash))
 		return;
 
 	reset_hard(head, 1);
 
-	args[2] = oid_to_hex(stash);
+	strvec_pushl(&args, "stash", "apply", "--index", "--quiet", NULL);
+	strvec_push(&args, oid_to_hex(stash));
 
 	/*
 	 * It is OK to ignore error here, for example when there was
 	 * nothing to restore.
 	 */
-	run_command_v_opt(args, RUN_GIT_CMD);
+	run_command_v_opt(args.v, RUN_GIT_CMD);
+	strvec_clear(&args);
 
 	refresh_cache(REFRESH_QUIET);
 }
diff --git a/t/t6424-merge-unrelated-index-changes.sh b/t/t6424-merge-unrelated-index-changes.sh
index 2c83210f9f..a61f20c22f 100755
--- a/t/t6424-merge-unrelated-index-changes.sh
+++ b/t/t6424-merge-unrelated-index-changes.sh
@@ -292,6 +292,7 @@ test_expect_success 'with multiple strategies, recursive or ort failure do not e
 
 	test_seq 0 10 >a &&
 	git add a &&
+	git rev-parse :a >expect &&
 
 	sane_unset GIT_TEST_MERGE_ALGORITHM &&
 	test_must_fail git merge -s recursive -s ort -s octopus C^0 >output 2>&1 &&
@@ -299,7 +300,11 @@ test_expect_success 'with multiple strategies, recursive or ort failure do not e
 	grep "Trying merge strategy recursive..." output &&
 	grep "Trying merge strategy ort..." output &&
 	grep "Trying merge strategy octopus..." output &&
-	grep "No merge strategy handled the merge." output
+	grep "No merge strategy handled the merge." output &&
+
+	# Changes to "a" should remain staged
+	git rev-parse :a >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
 test_done