diff --git a/builtin/interpret-trailers.c b/builtin/interpret-trailers.c
index 8ae40dec474..f101d092b88 100644
--- a/builtin/interpret-trailers.c
+++ b/builtin/interpret-trailers.c
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 #include "parse-options.h"
 #include "string-list.h"
 #include "trailer.h"
+#include "config.h"
 
 static const char * const git_interpret_trailers_usage[] = {
 	N_("git interpret-trailers [--in-place] [--trim-empty] [(--trailer <token>[(=|:)<value>])...] [<file>...]"),
@@ -112,6 +113,8 @@ int cmd_interpret_trailers(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_END()
 	};
 
+	git_config(git_default_config, NULL);
+
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options,
 			     git_interpret_trailers_usage, 0);
 
diff --git a/t/t7513-interpret-trailers.sh b/t/t7513-interpret-trailers.sh
index c4418613314..f19202b5098 100755
--- a/t/t7513-interpret-trailers.sh
+++ b/t/t7513-interpret-trailers.sh
@@ -538,33 +538,50 @@ test_expect_success 'with 2 files arguments' '
 	test_cmp expected actual
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'with message that has comments' '
-	cat basic_message >message_with_comments &&
-	sed -e "s/ Z\$/ /" >>message_with_comments <<-\EOF &&
-		# comment
+# Cover multiple comment characters with the same test input.
+for char in "#" ";"
+do
+	case "$char" in
+	"#")
+		# This is the default, so let's explicitly _not_
+		# set any config to make sure it behaves as we expect.
+		;;
+	*)
+		config="-c core.commentChar=$char"
+		;;
+	esac
 
-		# other comment
-		Cc: Z
-		# yet another comment
-		Reviewed-by: Johan
-		Reviewed-by: Z
-		# last comment
+	test_expect_success "with message that has comments ($char)" '
+		cat basic_message >message_with_comments &&
+		sed -e "s/ Z\$/ /" \
+		    -e "s/#/$char/g" >>message_with_comments <<-EOF &&
+			# comment
 
-	EOF
-	cat basic_patch >>message_with_comments &&
-	cat basic_message >expected &&
-	cat >>expected <<-\EOF &&
-		# comment
+			# other comment
+			Cc: Z
+			# yet another comment
+			Reviewed-by: Johan
+			Reviewed-by: Z
+			# last comment
 
-		Reviewed-by: Johan
-		Cc: Peff
-		# last comment
+		EOF
+		cat basic_patch >>message_with_comments &&
+		cat basic_message >expected &&
+		sed -e "s/#/$char/g" >>expected <<-\EOF &&
+			# comment
 
-	EOF
-	cat basic_patch >>expected &&
-	git interpret-trailers --trim-empty --trailer "Cc: Peff" message_with_comments >actual &&
-	test_cmp expected actual
-'
+			Reviewed-by: Johan
+			Cc: Peff
+			# last comment
+
+		EOF
+		cat basic_patch >>expected &&
+		git $config interpret-trailers \
+			--trim-empty --trailer "Cc: Peff" \
+			message_with_comments >actual &&
+		test_cmp expected actual
+	'
+done
 
 test_expect_success 'with message that has an old style conflict block' '
 	cat basic_message >message_with_comments &&