diff --git a/Documentation/git-status.txt b/Documentation/git-status.txt
index e1e8f57cdd..6b1454bd42 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-status.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-status.txt
@@ -32,11 +32,14 @@ OPTIONS
 --branch::
 	Show the branch and tracking info even in short-format.
 
---porcelain::
+--porcelain[=<version>]::
 	Give the output in an easy-to-parse format for scripts.
 	This is similar to the short output, but will remain stable
 	across Git versions and regardless of user configuration. See
 	below for details.
++
+The version parameter is used to specify the format version.
+This is optional and defaults to the original version 'v1' format.
 
 --long::
 	Give the output in the long-format. This is the default.
@@ -96,7 +99,7 @@ configuration variable documented in linkgit:git-config[1].
 
 -z::
 	Terminate entries with NUL, instead of LF.  This implies
-	the `--porcelain` output format if no other format is given.
+	the `--porcelain=v1` output format if no other format is given.
 
 --column[=<options>]::
 --no-column::
diff --git a/builtin/commit.c b/builtin/commit.c
index a792deb9bd..185ac35d02 100644
--- a/builtin/commit.c
+++ b/builtin/commit.c
@@ -144,6 +144,21 @@ static struct strbuf message = STRBUF_INIT;
 
 static enum wt_status_format status_format = STATUS_FORMAT_UNSPECIFIED;
 
+static int opt_parse_porcelain(const struct option *opt, const char *arg, int unset)
+{
+	enum wt_status_format *value = (enum wt_status_format *)opt->value;
+	if (unset)
+		*value = STATUS_FORMAT_NONE;
+	else if (!arg)
+		*value = STATUS_FORMAT_PORCELAIN;
+	else if (!strcmp(arg, "v1") || !strcmp(arg, "1"))
+		*value = STATUS_FORMAT_PORCELAIN;
+	else
+		die("unsupported porcelain version '%s'", arg);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 static int opt_parse_m(const struct option *opt, const char *arg, int unset)
 {
 	struct strbuf *buf = opt->value;
@@ -1316,9 +1331,9 @@ int cmd_status(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 			    N_("show status concisely"), STATUS_FORMAT_SHORT),
 		OPT_BOOL('b', "branch", &s.show_branch,
 			 N_("show branch information")),
-		OPT_SET_INT(0, "porcelain", &status_format,
-			    N_("machine-readable output"),
-			    STATUS_FORMAT_PORCELAIN),
+		{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 0, "porcelain", &status_format,
+		  N_("version"), N_("machine-readable output"),
+		  PARSE_OPT_OPTARG, opt_parse_porcelain },
 		OPT_SET_INT(0, "long", &status_format,
 			    N_("show status in long format (default)"),
 			    STATUS_FORMAT_LONG),
diff --git a/t/t7060-wtstatus.sh b/t/t7060-wtstatus.sh
index 44bf1d84af..00e0cebff3 100755
--- a/t/t7060-wtstatus.sh
+++ b/t/t7060-wtstatus.sh
@@ -228,4 +228,25 @@ test_expect_success 'status --branch with detached HEAD' '
 	test_i18ncmp expected actual
 '
 
+## Duplicate the above test and verify --porcelain=v1 arg parsing.
+test_expect_success 'status --porcelain=v1 --branch with detached HEAD' '
+	git reset --hard &&
+	git checkout master^0 &&
+	git status --branch --porcelain=v1 >actual &&
+	cat >expected <<-EOF &&
+	## HEAD (no branch)
+	?? .gitconfig
+	?? actual
+	?? expect
+	?? expected
+	?? mdconflict/
+	EOF
+	test_i18ncmp expected actual
+'
+
+## Verify parser error on invalid --porcelain argument.
+test_expect_success 'status --porcelain=bogus' '
+	test_must_fail git status --porcelain=bogus
+'
+
 test_done