diff --git a/builtin-commit.c b/builtin-commit.c
index 81371b1d26..baaa75cf90 100644
--- a/builtin-commit.c
+++ b/builtin-commit.c
@@ -699,7 +699,11 @@ static int parse_and_validate_options(int argc, const char *argv[],
 
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, 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/t/t7500-commit.sh b/t/t7500-commit.sh
index 5998baf27b..8eec0fa9bc 100755
--- a/t/t7500-commit.sh
+++ b/t/t7500-commit.sh
@@ -183,4 +183,14 @@ test_expect_success 'commit message from stdin' '
 	commit_msg_is "Log with foo word"
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'commit -F overrides -t' '
+	(
+		cd subdir &&
+		echo "-F log" > f.log &&
+		echo "-t template" > t.template &&
+		git commit --allow-empty -F f.log -t t.template
+	) &&
+	commit_msg_is "-F log"
+'
+
 test_done