diff --git a/Documentation/merge-options.txt b/Documentation/merge-options.txt
index 92a7d936c1..646100ea9a 100644
--- a/Documentation/merge-options.txt
+++ b/Documentation/merge-options.txt
@@ -32,6 +32,11 @@ they run `git merge`. To make it easier to adjust such scripts to the
 updated behaviour, the environment variable `GIT_MERGE_AUTOEDIT` can be
 set to `no` at the beginning of them.
 
+--cleanup=<mode>::
+	This option determines how the merge message will be cleaned up
+	before commiting or being passed on. See linkgit:git-commit[1] for more
+	details.
+
 --ff::
 	When the merge resolves as a fast-forward, only update the branch
 	pointer, without creating a merge commit.  This is the default
diff --git a/builtin/merge.c b/builtin/merge.c
index 5ce8946d39..7be03a2610 100644
--- a/builtin/merge.c
+++ b/builtin/merge.c
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 #include "tag.h"
 #include "alias.h"
 #include "commit-reach.h"
+#include "wt-status.h"
 
 #define DEFAULT_TWOHEAD (1<<0)
 #define DEFAULT_OCTOPUS (1<<1)
@@ -98,6 +99,9 @@ enum ff_type {
 
 static enum ff_type fast_forward = FF_ALLOW;
 
+static const char *cleanup_arg;
+static enum commit_msg_cleanup_mode cleanup_mode;
+
 static int option_parse_message(const struct option *opt,
 				const char *arg, int unset)
 {
@@ -249,6 +253,7 @@ static struct option builtin_merge_options[] = {
 		N_("perform a commit if the merge succeeds (default)")),
 	OPT_BOOL('e', "edit", &option_edit,
 		N_("edit message before committing")),
+	OPT_CLEANUP(&cleanup_arg),
 	OPT_SET_INT(0, "ff", &fast_forward, N_("allow fast-forward (default)"), FF_ALLOW),
 	OPT_SET_INT_F(0, "ff-only", &fast_forward,
 		      N_("abort if fast-forward is not possible"),
@@ -612,6 +617,8 @@ static int git_merge_config(const char *k, const char *v, void *cb)
 		return git_config_string(&pull_twohead, k, v);
 	else if (!strcmp(k, "pull.octopus"))
 		return git_config_string(&pull_octopus, k, v);
+	else if (!strcmp(k, "commit.cleanup"))
+		return git_config_string(&cleanup_arg, k, v);
 	else if (!strcmp(k, "merge.renormalize"))
 		option_renormalize = git_config_bool(k, v);
 	else if (!strcmp(k, "merge.ff")) {
@@ -797,23 +804,32 @@ static void abort_commit(struct commit_list *remoteheads, const char *err_msg)
 	exit(1);
 }
 
+static const char comment_line_explanation[] =
+N_("Lines starting with '%c' will be ignored.\n");
+
 static const char merge_editor_comment[] =
 N_("Please enter a commit message to explain why this merge is necessary,\n"
    "especially if it merges an updated upstream into a topic branch.\n"
    "\n"
-   "Lines starting with '%c' will be ignored, and an empty message aborts\n"
-   "the commit.\n");
+   "An empty message aborts the commit.\n");
 
 static void write_merge_heads(struct commit_list *);
 static void prepare_to_commit(struct commit_list *remoteheads)
 {
 	struct strbuf msg = STRBUF_INIT;
 	strbuf_addbuf(&msg, &merge_msg);
-	strbuf_addch(&msg, '\n');
 	if (squash)
 		BUG("the control must not reach here under --squash");
-	if (0 < option_edit)
-		strbuf_commented_addf(&msg, _(merge_editor_comment), comment_line_char);
+	if (0 < option_edit) {
+		strbuf_addch(&msg, '\n');
+		if (cleanup_mode == COMMIT_MSG_CLEANUP_SCISSORS)
+			wt_status_append_cut_line(&msg);
+		else
+			strbuf_commented_addf(&msg, _(comment_line_explanation), comment_line_char);
+
+		strbuf_commented_addf(&msg, "\n");
+		strbuf_commented_addf(&msg, _(merge_editor_comment));
+	}
 	if (signoff)
 		append_signoff(&msg, ignore_non_trailer(msg.buf, msg.len), 0);
 	write_merge_heads(remoteheads);
@@ -832,7 +848,7 @@ static void prepare_to_commit(struct commit_list *remoteheads)
 		abort_commit(remoteheads, NULL);
 
 	read_merge_msg(&msg);
-	strbuf_stripspace(&msg, 0 < option_edit);
+	cleanup_message(&msg, cleanup_mode, 0);
 	if (!msg.len)
 		abort_commit(remoteheads, _("Empty commit message."));
 	strbuf_release(&merge_msg);
@@ -880,7 +896,6 @@ static int finish_automerge(struct commit *head,
 	parents = remoteheads;
 	if (!head_subsumed || fast_forward == FF_NO)
 		commit_list_insert(head, &parents);
-	strbuf_addch(&merge_msg, '\n');
 	prepare_to_commit(remoteheads);
 	if (commit_tree(merge_msg.buf, merge_msg.len, result_tree, parents,
 			&result_commit, NULL, sign_commit))
@@ -1389,6 +1404,8 @@ int cmd_merge(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (option_edit < 0)
 		option_edit = default_edit_option();
 
+	cleanup_mode = get_cleanup_mode(cleanup_arg, 0 < option_edit, 1);
+
 	if (!use_strategies) {
 		if (!remoteheads)
 			; /* already up-to-date */
diff --git a/builtin/pull.c b/builtin/pull.c
index 33db889955..292c1dac27 100644
--- a/builtin/pull.c
+++ b/builtin/pull.c
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ static char *opt_signoff;
 static char *opt_squash;
 static char *opt_commit;
 static char *opt_edit;
+static char *opt_cleanup;
 static char *opt_ff;
 static char *opt_verify_signatures;
 static int opt_autostash = -1;
@@ -168,6 +169,9 @@ static struct option pull_options[] = {
 	OPT_PASSTHRU(0, "edit", &opt_edit, NULL,
 		N_("edit message before committing"),
 		PARSE_OPT_NOARG),
+	OPT_PASSTHRU(0, "cleanup", &opt_cleanup, NULL,
+		N_("how to strip spaces and #comments from message"),
+		0),
 	OPT_PASSTHRU(0, "ff", &opt_ff, NULL,
 		N_("allow fast-forward"),
 		PARSE_OPT_NOARG),
@@ -644,6 +648,8 @@ static int run_merge(void)
 		argv_array_push(&args, opt_commit);
 	if (opt_edit)
 		argv_array_push(&args, opt_edit);
+	if (opt_cleanup)
+		argv_array_push(&args, opt_cleanup);
 	if (opt_ff)
 		argv_array_push(&args, opt_ff);
 	if (opt_verify_signatures)
diff --git a/t/t7604-merge-custom-message.sh b/t/t7604-merge-custom-message.sh
index b045fdb413..c9685a318d 100755
--- a/t/t7604-merge-custom-message.sh
+++ b/t/t7604-merge-custom-message.sh
@@ -51,4 +51,71 @@ test_expect_success 'merge --log appends to custom message' '
 	test_cmp exp.log actual
 '
 
+mesg_with_comment_and_newlines='
+# text
+
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'prepare file with comment line and trailing newlines'  '
+	printf "%s" "$mesg_with_comment_and_newlines" >expect
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'cleanup commit messages (verbatim option)' '
+	git reset --hard c1 &&
+	git merge --cleanup=verbatim -F expect c2 &&
+	git cat-file commit HEAD >actual &&
+	sed -e "1,/^$/d" <actual >tmp &&
+	mv tmp actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'cleanup commit messages (whitespace option)' '
+	git reset --hard c1 &&
+	test_write_lines "" "# text" "" >text &&
+	echo "# text" >expect &&
+	git merge --cleanup=whitespace -F text c2 &&
+	git cat-file commit HEAD >actual &&
+	sed -e "1,/^$/d" <actual >tmp &&
+	mv tmp actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'cleanup merge messages (scissors option)' '
+	git reset --hard c1 &&
+	cat >text <<-\EOF &&
+
+	# to be kept
+
+	  # ------------------------ >8 ------------------------
+	# to be kept, too
+	# ------------------------ >8 ------------------------
+	to be removed
+	# ------------------------ >8 ------------------------
+	to be removed, too
+	EOF
+
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	# to be kept
+
+	  # ------------------------ >8 ------------------------
+	# to be kept, too
+	EOF
+	git merge --cleanup=scissors -e -F text c2 &&
+	git cat-file commit HEAD >actual &&
+	sed -e "1,/^$/d" <actual >tmp &&
+	mv tmp actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'cleanup commit messages (strip option)' '
+	git reset --hard c1 &&
+	test_write_lines "" "# text" "sample" "" >text &&
+	echo sample >expect &&
+	git merge --cleanup=strip -F text c2 &&
+	git cat-file commit HEAD >actual &&
+	sed -e "1,/^$/d" <actual >tmp &&
+	mv tmp actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_done
diff --git a/wt-status.c b/wt-status.c
index 445a36204a..b81fcd428d 100644
--- a/wt-status.c
+++ b/wt-status.c
@@ -1006,13 +1006,19 @@ size_t wt_status_locate_end(const char *s, size_t len)
 	return len;
 }
 
-void wt_status_add_cut_line(FILE *fp)
+void wt_status_append_cut_line(struct strbuf *buf)
 {
 	const char *explanation = _("Do not modify or remove the line above.\nEverything below it will be ignored.");
+
+	strbuf_commented_addf(buf, "%s", cut_line);
+	strbuf_add_commented_lines(buf, explanation, strlen(explanation));
+}
+
+void wt_status_add_cut_line(FILE *fp)
+{
 	struct strbuf buf = STRBUF_INIT;
 
-	fprintf(fp, "%c %s", comment_line_char, cut_line);
-	strbuf_add_commented_lines(&buf, explanation, strlen(explanation));
+	wt_status_append_cut_line(&buf);
 	fputs(buf.buf, fp);
 	strbuf_release(&buf);
 }
diff --git a/wt-status.h b/wt-status.h
index 3a95975032..64f1ddc9fd 100644
--- a/wt-status.h
+++ b/wt-status.h
@@ -129,6 +129,7 @@ struct wt_status {
 };
 
 size_t wt_status_locate_end(const char *s, size_t len);
+void wt_status_append_cut_line(struct strbuf *buf);
 void wt_status_add_cut_line(FILE *fp);
 void wt_status_prepare(struct repository *r, struct wt_status *s);
 void wt_status_print(struct wt_status *s);
