diff --git a/git-cvsimport.perl b/git-cvsimport.perl
index 47f116f37e..95c5eec51e 100755
--- a/git-cvsimport.perl
+++ b/git-cvsimport.perl
@@ -735,7 +735,7 @@ sub commit {
 		next unless $logmsg =~ $rx && $1;
 		my $mparent = $1 eq 'HEAD' ? $opt_o : $1;
 		if (my $sha1 = get_headref("$remote/$mparent")) {
-			push @commit_args, '-p', $mparent;
+			push @commit_args, '-p', "$remote/$mparent";
 			print "Merge parent branch: $mparent\n" if $opt_v;
 		}
 	}