diff --git a/Documentation/git-rev-parse.txt b/Documentation/git-rev-parse.txt
index 7241e96893..91c02b8c85 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-rev-parse.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-rev-parse.txt
@@ -217,6 +217,10 @@ If `$GIT_DIR` is not defined and the current directory
 is not detected to lie in a Git repository or work tree
 print a message to stderr and exit with nonzero status.
 
+--absolute-git-dir::
+	Like `--git-dir`, but its output is always the canonicalized
+	absolute path.
+
 --git-common-dir::
 	Show `$GIT_COMMON_DIR` if defined, else `$GIT_DIR`.
 
diff --git a/builtin/rev-parse.c b/builtin/rev-parse.c
index ff13e59e1d..1967bafba4 100644
--- a/builtin/rev-parse.c
+++ b/builtin/rev-parse.c
@@ -802,17 +802,27 @@ int cmd_rev_parse(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 				putchar('\n');
 				continue;
 			}
-			if (!strcmp(arg, "--git-dir")) {
+			if (!strcmp(arg, "--git-dir") ||
+			    !strcmp(arg, "--absolute-git-dir")) {
 				const char *gitdir = getenv(GIT_DIR_ENVIRONMENT);
 				char *cwd;
 				int len;
-				if (gitdir) {
-					puts(gitdir);
-					continue;
-				}
-				if (!prefix) {
-					puts(".git");
-					continue;
+				if (arg[2] == 'g') {	/* --git-dir */
+					if (gitdir) {
+						puts(gitdir);
+						continue;
+					}
+					if (!prefix) {
+						puts(".git");
+						continue;
+					}
+				} else {		/* --absolute-git-dir */
+					if (!gitdir && !prefix)
+						gitdir = ".git";
+					if (gitdir) {
+						puts(real_path(gitdir));
+						continue;
+					}
 				}
 				cwd = xgetcwd();
 				len = strlen(cwd);
diff --git a/t/t1500-rev-parse.sh b/t/t1500-rev-parse.sh
index 038e24c401..8b62ed85b3 100755
--- a/t/t1500-rev-parse.sh
+++ b/t/t1500-rev-parse.sh
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 test_description='test git rev-parse'
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
-# usage: [options] label is-bare is-inside-git is-inside-work prefix git-dir
+# usage: [options] label is-bare is-inside-git is-inside-work prefix git-dir absolute-git-dir
 test_rev_parse () {
 	d=
 	bare=
@@ -29,7 +29,8 @@ test_rev_parse () {
 		 --is-inside-git-dir \
 		 --is-inside-work-tree \
 		 --show-prefix \
-		 --git-dir
+		 --git-dir \
+		 --absolute-git-dir
 	do
 		test $# -eq 0 && break
 		expect="$1"
@@ -62,26 +63,26 @@ test_expect_success 'setup' '
 	cp -R .git repo.git
 '
 
-test_rev_parse toplevel false false true '' .git
+test_rev_parse toplevel false false true '' .git "$ROOT/.git"
 
-test_rev_parse -C .git .git/ false true false '' .
-test_rev_parse -C .git/objects .git/objects/ false true false '' "$ROOT/.git"
+test_rev_parse -C .git .git/ false true false '' . "$ROOT/.git"
+test_rev_parse -C .git/objects .git/objects/ false true false '' "$ROOT/.git" "$ROOT/.git"
 
-test_rev_parse -C sub/dir subdirectory false false true sub/dir/ "$ROOT/.git"
+test_rev_parse -C sub/dir subdirectory false false true sub/dir/ "$ROOT/.git" "$ROOT/.git"
 
 test_rev_parse -b t 'core.bare = true' true false false
 
 test_rev_parse -b u 'core.bare undefined' false false true
 
 
-test_rev_parse -C work -g ../.git -b f 'GIT_DIR=../.git, core.bare = false' false false true ''
+test_rev_parse -C work -g ../.git -b f 'GIT_DIR=../.git, core.bare = false' false false true '' "../.git" "$ROOT/.git"
 
 test_rev_parse -C work -g ../.git -b t 'GIT_DIR=../.git, core.bare = true' true false false ''
 
 test_rev_parse -C work -g ../.git -b u 'GIT_DIR=../.git, core.bare undefined' false false true ''
 
 
-test_rev_parse -C work -g ../repo.git -b f 'GIT_DIR=../repo.git, core.bare = false' false false true ''
+test_rev_parse -C work -g ../repo.git -b f 'GIT_DIR=../repo.git, core.bare = false' false false true '' "../repo.git" "$ROOT/repo.git"
 
 test_rev_parse -C work -g ../repo.git -b t 'GIT_DIR=../repo.git, core.bare = true' true false false ''