diff --git a/Documentation/technical/api-parse-options.txt b/Documentation/technical/api-parse-options.txt
index aace5801ca..50f9e9ac17 100644
--- a/Documentation/technical/api-parse-options.txt
+++ b/Documentation/technical/api-parse-options.txt
@@ -167,6 +167,11 @@ There are some macros to easily define options:
 	and the result will be put into `var`.
 	See 'Option Callbacks' below for a more elaborate description.
 
+`OPT_FILENAME(short, long, &var, description)`::
+	Introduce an option with a filename argument.
+	The filename will be prefixed by passing the filename along with
+	the prefix argument of `parse_options()` to `prefix_filename()`.
+
 `OPT_ARGUMENT(long, description)`::
 	Introduce a long-option argument that will be kept in `argv[]`.
 
diff --git a/builtin-apply.c b/builtin-apply.c
index bac03d7902..5329186266 100644
--- a/builtin-apply.c
+++ b/builtin-apply.c
@@ -3278,7 +3278,7 @@ int cmd_apply(int argc, const char **argv, const char *unused_prefix)
 			"apply a patch without touching the working tree"),
 		OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "apply", &force_apply,
 			"also apply the patch (use with --stat/--summary/--check)"),
-		OPT_STRING(0, "build-fake-ancestor", &fake_ancestor, "file",
+		OPT_FILENAME(0, "build-fake-ancestor", &fake_ancestor,
 			"build a temporary index based on embedded index information"),
 		{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 'z', NULL, NULL, NULL,
 			"paths are separated with NUL character",
@@ -3315,9 +3315,6 @@ int cmd_apply(int argc, const char **argv, const char *unused_prefix)
 
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, builtin_apply_options,
 			apply_usage, 0);
-	fake_ancestor = parse_options_fix_filename(prefix, fake_ancestor);
-	if (fake_ancestor)
-		fake_ancestor = xstrdup(fake_ancestor);
 
 	if (apply_with_reject)
 		apply = apply_verbosely = 1;
diff --git a/builtin-commit.c b/builtin-commit.c
index b9a1528c9d..41e222d267 100644
--- a/builtin-commit.c
+++ b/builtin-commit.c
@@ -88,13 +88,13 @@ static struct option builtin_commit_options[] = {
 	OPT__VERBOSE(&verbose),
 	OPT_GROUP("Commit message options"),
 
-	OPT_STRING('F', "file", &logfile, "FILE", "read log from file"),
+	OPT_FILENAME('F', "file", &logfile, "read log from file"),
 	OPT_STRING(0, "author", &force_author, "AUTHOR", "override author for commit"),
 	OPT_CALLBACK('m', "message", &message, "MESSAGE", "specify commit message", opt_parse_m),
 	OPT_STRING('c', "reedit-message", &edit_message, "COMMIT", "reuse and edit message from specified commit "),
 	OPT_STRING('C', "reuse-message", &use_message, "COMMIT", "reuse message from specified commit"),
 	OPT_BOOLEAN('s', "signoff", &signoff, "add Signed-off-by:"),
-	OPT_STRING('t', "template", &template_file, "FILE", "use specified template file"),
+	OPT_FILENAME('t', "template", &template_file, "use specified template file"),
 	OPT_BOOLEAN('e', "edit", &edit_flag, "force edit of commit"),
 
 	OPT_GROUP("Commit contents options"),
@@ -699,12 +699,6 @@ static int parse_and_validate_options(int argc, const char *argv[],
 
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, builtin_commit_options, usage,
 			     0);
-	logfile = parse_options_fix_filename(prefix, logfile);
-	if (logfile)
-		logfile = xstrdup(logfile);
-	template_file = parse_options_fix_filename(prefix, template_file);
-	if (template_file)
-		template_file = xstrdup(template_file);
 
 	if (force_author && !strchr(force_author, '>'))
 		force_author = find_author_by_nickname(force_author);
diff --git a/builtin-fmt-merge-msg.c b/builtin-fmt-merge-msg.c
index d4c7206142..fbf9582e66 100644
--- a/builtin-fmt-merge-msg.c
+++ b/builtin-fmt-merge-msg.c
@@ -351,7 +351,7 @@ int cmd_fmt_merge_msg(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	struct option options[] = {
 		OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "log",     &merge_summary, "populate log with the shortlog"),
 		OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "summary", &merge_summary, "alias for --log"),
-		OPT_STRING('F', "file",   &inpath, "file", "file to read from"),
+		OPT_FILENAME('F', "file", &inpath, "file to read from"),
 		OPT_END()
 	};
 
@@ -364,7 +364,6 @@ int cmd_fmt_merge_msg(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 			     0);
 	if (argc > 0)
 		usage_with_options(fmt_merge_msg_usage, options);
-	inpath = parse_options_fix_filename(prefix, inpath);
 
 	if (inpath && strcmp(inpath, "-")) {
 		in = fopen(inpath, "r");
diff --git a/builtin-tag.c b/builtin-tag.c
index 6e8b464109..dc3db62811 100644
--- a/builtin-tag.c
+++ b/builtin-tag.c
@@ -387,7 +387,7 @@ int cmd_tag(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 					"annotated tag, needs a message"),
 		OPT_CALLBACK('m', NULL, &msg, "msg",
 			     "message for the tag", parse_msg_arg),
-		OPT_STRING('F', NULL, &msgfile, "file", "message in a file"),
+		OPT_FILENAME('F', NULL, &msgfile, "message in a file"),
 		OPT_BOOLEAN('s', NULL, &sign, "annotated and GPG-signed tag"),
 		OPT_STRING('u', NULL, &keyid, "key-id",
 					"use another key to sign the tag"),
@@ -406,7 +406,6 @@ int cmd_tag(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	git_config(git_tag_config, NULL);
 
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options, git_tag_usage, 0);
-	msgfile = parse_options_fix_filename(prefix, msgfile);
 
 	if (keyid) {
 		sign = 1;
diff --git a/parse-options.c b/parse-options.c
index be1800d7b4..b85cab2466 100644
--- a/parse-options.c
+++ b/parse-options.c
@@ -31,11 +31,20 @@ static int get_arg(struct parse_opt_ctx_t *p, const struct option *opt,
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static void fix_filename(const char *prefix, const char **file)
+{
+	if (!file || !*file || !prefix || is_absolute_path(*file)
+	    || !strcmp("-", *file))
+		return;
+	*file = xstrdup(prefix_filename(prefix, strlen(prefix), *file));
+}
+
 static int get_value(struct parse_opt_ctx_t *p,
 		     const struct option *opt, int flags)
 {
 	const char *s, *arg;
 	const int unset = flags & OPT_UNSET;
+	int err;
 
 	if (unset && p->opt)
 		return opterror(opt, "takes no value", flags);
@@ -95,6 +104,19 @@ static int get_value(struct parse_opt_ctx_t *p,
 			return get_arg(p, opt, flags, (const char **)opt->value);
 		return 0;
 
+	case OPTION_FILENAME:
+		err = 0;
+		if (unset)
+			*(const char **)opt->value = NULL;
+		else if (opt->flags & PARSE_OPT_OPTARG && !p->opt)
+			*(const char **)opt->value = (const char *)opt->defval;
+		else
+			err = get_arg(p, opt, flags, (const char **)opt->value);
+
+		if (!err)
+			fix_filename(p->prefix, (const char **)opt->value);
+		return err;
+
 	case OPTION_CALLBACK:
 		if (unset)
 			return (*opt->callback)(opt, NULL, 1) ? (-1) : 0;
@@ -494,6 +516,8 @@ int usage_with_options_internal(const char * const *usagestr,
 			if (opts->flags & PARSE_OPT_NOARG)
 				break;
 			/* FALLTHROUGH */
+		case OPTION_FILENAME:
+			/* FALLTHROUGH */
 		case OPTION_STRING:
 			if (opts->argh)
 				pos += usage_argh(opts);
@@ -604,15 +628,3 @@ int parse_opt_with_commit(const struct option *opt, const char *arg, int unset)
 	commit_list_insert(commit, opt->value);
 	return 0;
 }
-
-/*
- * This should really be OPTION_FILENAME type as a part of
- * parse_options that take prefix to do this while parsing.
- */
-extern const char *parse_options_fix_filename(const char *prefix, const char *file)
-{
-	if (!file || !prefix || is_absolute_path(file) || !strcmp("-", file))
-		return file;
-	return prefix_filename(prefix, strlen(prefix), file);
-}
-
diff --git a/parse-options.h b/parse-options.h
index f652c0f3c7..b374ade95c 100644
--- a/parse-options.h
+++ b/parse-options.h
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ enum parse_opt_type {
 	OPTION_STRING,
 	OPTION_INTEGER,
 	OPTION_CALLBACK,
+	OPTION_FILENAME
 };
 
 enum parse_opt_flags {
@@ -117,6 +118,8 @@ struct option {
 #define OPT_NUMBER_CALLBACK(v, h, f) \
 	{ OPTION_NUMBER, 0, NULL, (v), NULL, (h), \
 	  PARSE_OPT_NOARG | PARSE_OPT_NONEG, (f) }
+#define OPT_FILENAME(s, l, v, h)    { OPTION_FILENAME, (s), (l), (v), \
+				       "FILE", (h) }
 
 /* parse_options() will filter out the processed options and leave the
  * non-option arguments in argv[].
@@ -184,6 +187,4 @@ extern int parse_opt_with_commit(const struct option *, const char *, int);
 	  "use <n> digits to display SHA-1s", \
 	  PARSE_OPT_OPTARG, &parse_opt_abbrev_cb, 0 }
 
-extern const char *parse_options_fix_filename(const char *prefix, const char *file);
-
 #endif
diff --git a/t/t0040-parse-options.sh b/t/t0040-parse-options.sh
index a40c1236c0..bbc821ef97 100755
--- a/t/t0040-parse-options.sh
+++ b/t/t0040-parse-options.sh
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ usage: test-parse-options <options>
     --set23               set integer to 23
     -t <time>             get timestamp of <time>
     -L, --length <str>    get length of <str>
+    -F, --file <FILE>     set file to <FILE>
 
 String options
     -s, --string <string>
@@ -56,10 +57,12 @@ abbrev: 7
 verbose: 2
 quiet: no
 dry run: yes
+file: prefix/my.file
 EOF
 
 test_expect_success 'short options' '
-	test-parse-options -s123 -b -i 1729 -b -vv -n > output 2> output.err &&
+	test-parse-options -s123 -b -i 1729 -b -vv -n -F my.file \
+	> output 2> output.err &&
 	test_cmp expect output &&
 	test ! -s output.err
 '
@@ -73,11 +76,12 @@ abbrev: 10
 verbose: 2
 quiet: no
 dry run: no
+file: prefix/fi.le
 EOF
 
 test_expect_success 'long options' '
 	test-parse-options --boolean --integer 1729 --boolean --string2=321 \
-		--verbose --verbose --no-dry-run --abbrev=10 \
+		--verbose --verbose --no-dry-run --abbrev=10 --file fi.le\
 		> output 2> output.err &&
 	test ! -s output.err &&
 	test_cmp expect output
@@ -87,6 +91,8 @@ test_expect_success 'missing required value' '
 	test-parse-options -s;
 	test $? = 129 &&
 	test-parse-options --string;
+	test $? = 129 &&
+	test-parse-options --file;
 	test $? = 129
 '
 
@@ -99,6 +105,7 @@ abbrev: 7
 verbose: 0
 quiet: no
 dry run: no
+file: (not set)
 arg 00: a1
 arg 01: b1
 arg 02: --boolean
@@ -120,6 +127,7 @@ abbrev: 7
 verbose: 0
 quiet: no
 dry run: no
+file: (not set)
 EOF
 
 test_expect_success 'unambiguously abbreviated option' '
@@ -148,6 +156,7 @@ abbrev: 7
 verbose: 0
 quiet: no
 dry run: no
+file: (not set)
 EOF
 
 test_expect_success 'non ambiguous option (after two options it abbreviates)' '
@@ -175,6 +184,7 @@ abbrev: 7
 verbose: 0
 quiet: no
 dry run: no
+file: (not set)
 arg 00: --quux
 EOF
 
@@ -193,6 +203,7 @@ abbrev: 7
 verbose: 0
 quiet: yes
 dry run: no
+file: (not set)
 arg 00: foo
 EOF
 
@@ -213,6 +224,7 @@ abbrev: 7
 verbose: 0
 quiet: no
 dry run: no
+file: (not set)
 EOF
 
 test_expect_success 'OPT_CALLBACK() and OPT_BIT() work' '
@@ -240,6 +252,7 @@ abbrev: 7
 verbose: 0
 quiet: no
 dry run: no
+file: (not set)
 EOF
 
 test_expect_success 'OPT_BIT() and OPT_SET_INT() work' '
@@ -263,6 +276,7 @@ abbrev: 7
 verbose: 0
 quiet: no
 dry run: no
+file: (not set)
 EOF
 
 test_expect_success 'OPT_BIT() works' '
@@ -292,6 +306,7 @@ abbrev: 7
 verbose: 0
 quiet: no
 dry run: no
+file: (not set)
 EOF
 
 test_expect_success 'OPT_NUMBER_CALLBACK() works' '
diff --git a/test-parse-options.c b/test-parse-options.c
index da3d6581d3..a90bc3003d 100644
--- a/test-parse-options.c
+++ b/test-parse-options.c
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ static unsigned long timestamp;
 static int abbrev = 7;
 static int verbose = 0, dry_run = 0, quiet = 0;
 static char *string = NULL;
+static char *file = NULL;
 
 int length_callback(const struct option *opt, const char *arg, int unset)
 {
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@ int number_callback(const struct option *opt, const char *arg, int unset)
 
 int main(int argc, const char **argv)
 {
+	const char *prefix = "prefix/";
 	const char *usage[] = {
 		"test-parse-options <options>",
 		NULL
@@ -43,6 +45,7 @@ int main(int argc, const char **argv)
 		OPT_DATE('t', NULL, &timestamp, "get timestamp of <time>"),
 		OPT_CALLBACK('L', "length", &integer, "str",
 			"get length of <str>", length_callback),
+		OPT_FILENAME('F', "file", &file, "set file to <FILE>"),
 		OPT_GROUP("String options"),
 		OPT_STRING('s', "string", &string, "string", "get a string"),
 		OPT_STRING(0, "string2", &string, "str", "get another string"),
@@ -65,7 +68,7 @@ int main(int argc, const char **argv)
 	};
 	int i;
 
-	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, NULL, options, usage, 0);
+	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options, usage, 0);
 
 	printf("boolean: %d\n", boolean);
 	printf("integer: %u\n", integer);
@@ -75,6 +78,7 @@ int main(int argc, const char **argv)
 	printf("verbose: %d\n", verbose);
 	printf("quiet: %s\n", quiet ? "yes" : "no");
 	printf("dry run: %s\n", dry_run ? "yes" : "no");
+	printf("file: %s\n", file ? file : "(not set)");
 
 	for (i = 0; i < argc; i++)
 		printf("arg %02d: %s\n", i, argv[i]);