diff --git a/Documentation/pretty-formats.txt b/Documentation/pretty-formats.txt
index d9eddedc72..105f18a6f9 100644
--- a/Documentation/pretty-formats.txt
+++ b/Documentation/pretty-formats.txt
@@ -144,7 +144,11 @@ The placeholders are:
 - '%Cgreen': switch color to green
 - '%Cblue': switch color to blue
 - '%Creset': reset color
-- '%C(...)': color specification, as described in color.branch.* config option
+- '%C(...)': color specification, as described in color.branch.* config option;
+  adding `auto,` at the beginning will emit color only when colors are
+  enabled for log output (by `color.diff`, `color.ui`, or `--color`, and
+  respecting the `auto` settings of the former if we are going to a
+  terminal)
 - '%m': left, right or boundary mark
 - '%n': newline
 - '%%': a raw '%'
diff --git a/commit.h b/commit.h
index b6ad8f3f30..0f469e507d 100644
--- a/commit.h
+++ b/commit.h
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ struct pretty_print_context {
 	char *notes_message;
 	struct reflog_walk_info *reflog_info;
 	const char *output_encoding;
+	int color;
 };
 
 struct userformat_want {
diff --git a/log-tree.c b/log-tree.c
index 4f86defe32..8876c736d4 100644
--- a/log-tree.c
+++ b/log-tree.c
@@ -671,6 +671,7 @@ void show_log(struct rev_info *opt)
 	ctx.preserve_subject = opt->preserve_subject;
 	ctx.reflog_info = opt->reflog_info;
 	ctx.fmt = opt->commit_format;
+	ctx.color = opt->diffopt.use_color;
 	pretty_print_commit(&ctx, commit, &msgbuf);
 
 	if (opt->add_signoff)
diff --git a/pretty.c b/pretty.c
index 91bb2d3ef6..92c839fe64 100644
--- a/pretty.c
+++ b/pretty.c
@@ -960,12 +960,19 @@ static size_t format_commit_one(struct strbuf *sb, const char *placeholder,
 	switch (placeholder[0]) {
 	case 'C':
 		if (placeholder[1] == '(') {
-			const char *end = strchr(placeholder + 2, ')');
+			const char *begin = placeholder + 2;
+			const char *end = strchr(begin, ')');
 			char color[COLOR_MAXLEN];
+
 			if (!end)
 				return 0;
-			color_parse_mem(placeholder + 2,
-					end - (placeholder + 2),
+			if (!memcmp(begin, "auto,", 5)) {
+				if (!want_color(c->pretty_ctx->color))
+					return end - placeholder + 1;
+				begin += 5;
+			}
+			color_parse_mem(begin,
+					end - begin,
 					"--pretty format", color);
 			strbuf_addstr(sb, color);
 			return end - placeholder + 1;
diff --git a/t/t6006-rev-list-format.sh b/t/t6006-rev-list-format.sh
index f94f0c48e6..3fc3b74c8e 100755
--- a/t/t6006-rev-list-format.sh
+++ b/t/t6006-rev-list-format.sh
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 test_description='git rev-list --pretty=format test'
 
 . ./test-lib.sh
+. "$TEST_DIRECTORY"/lib-terminal.sh
 
 test_tick
 test_expect_success 'setup' '
@@ -11,12 +12,24 @@ touch foo && git add foo && git commit -m "added foo" &&
 '
 
 # usage: test_format name format_string <expected_output
-test_format() {
+test_format () {
 	cat >expect.$1
 	test_expect_success "format $1" "
-git rev-list --pretty=format:'$2' master >output.$1 &&
-test_cmp expect.$1 output.$1
-"
+		git rev-list --pretty=format:'$2' master >output.$1 &&
+		test_cmp expect.$1 output.$1
+	"
+}
+
+# Feed to --format to provide predictable colored sequences.
+AUTO_COLOR='%C(auto,red)foo%C(auto,reset)'
+has_color () {
+	printf '\033[31mfoo\033[m\n' >expect &&
+	test_cmp expect "$1"
+}
+
+has_no_color () {
+	echo foo >expect &&
+	test_cmp expect "$1"
 }
 
 test_format percent %%h <<'EOF'
@@ -124,6 +137,48 @@ commit 86c75cfd708a0e5868dc876ed5b8bb66c80b4873
 foo
 EOF
 
+test_expect_success '%C(auto) does not enable color by default' '
+	git log --format=$AUTO_COLOR -1 >actual &&
+	has_no_color actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success '%C(auto) enables colors for color.diff' '
+	git -c color.diff=always log --format=$AUTO_COLOR -1 >actual &&
+	has_color actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success '%C(auto) enables colors for color.ui' '
+	git -c color.ui=always log --format=$AUTO_COLOR -1 >actual &&
+	has_color actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success '%C(auto) respects --color' '
+	git log --format=$AUTO_COLOR -1 --color >actual &&
+	has_color actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success '%C(auto) respects --no-color' '
+	git -c color.ui=always log --format=$AUTO_COLOR -1 --no-color >actual &&
+	has_no_color actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success TTY '%C(auto) respects --color=auto (stdout is tty)' '
+	(
+		TERM=vt100 && export TERM &&
+		test_terminal \
+			git log --format=$AUTO_COLOR -1 --color=auto >actual &&
+		has_color actual
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success '%C(auto) respects --color=auto (stdout not tty)' '
+	(
+		TERM=vt100 && export TERM &&
+		git log --format=$AUTO_COLOR -1 --color=auto >actual &&
+		has_no_color actual
+	)
+'
+
 cat >commit-msg <<'EOF'
 Test printing of complex bodies