diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/merge/MergeMessageFormatterTest.java b/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/merge/MergeMessageFormatterTest.java
index 73fb838f0..88ace76eb 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/merge/MergeMessageFormatterTest.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/merge/MergeMessageFormatterTest.java
@@ -185,4 +185,46 @@ public class MergeMessageFormatterTest extends SampleDataRepositoryTestCase {
 		String message = formatter.format(Arrays.asList(a), head);
 		assertEquals("Merge branch 'a'", message);
 	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testFormatWithConflictsNoFooter() {
+		String originalMessage = "Header Line\n\nCommit body\n";
+		String message = formatter.formatWithConflicts(originalMessage,
+				Arrays.asList(new String[] { "path1" }));
+		assertEquals("Header Line\n\nCommit body\n\nConflicts:\n\tpath1\n",
+				message);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testFormatWithConflictsNoFooterNoLineBreak() {
+		String originalMessage = "Header Line\n\nCommit body";
+		String message = formatter.formatWithConflicts(originalMessage,
+				Arrays.asList(new String[] { "path1" }));
+		assertEquals("Header Line\n\nCommit body\n\nConflicts:\n\tpath1\n",
+				message);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testFormatWithConflictsWithFooters() {
+		String originalMessage = "Header Line\n\nCommit body\n\nChangeId:"
+				+ " I123456789123456789123456789123456789\nBug:1234567\n";
+		String message = formatter.formatWithConflicts(originalMessage,
+				Arrays.asList(new String[] { "path1" }));
+		assertEquals(
+				"Header Line\n\nCommit body\n\nConflicts:\n\tpath1\n\n"
+						+ "ChangeId: I123456789123456789123456789123456789\nBug:1234567\n",
+				message);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testFormatWithConflictsWithFooterlikeLineInBody() {
+		String originalMessage = "Header Line\n\nCommit body\nBug:1234567\nMore Body\n\nChangeId:"
+				+ " I123456789123456789123456789123456789\nBug:1234567\n";
+		String message = formatter.formatWithConflicts(originalMessage,
+				Arrays.asList(new String[] { "path1" }));
+		assertEquals(
+				"Header Line\n\nCommit body\nBug:1234567\nMore Body\n\nConflicts:\n\tpath1\n\n"
+						+ "ChangeId: I123456789123456789123456789123456789\nBug:1234567\n",
+				message);
+	}
 }
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/merge/MergeMessageFormatter.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/merge/MergeMessageFormatter.java
index 29fa8d65a..d94e7280c 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/merge/MergeMessageFormatter.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/merge/MergeMessageFormatter.java
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ import java.util.List;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Constants;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Ref;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Repository;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.util.ChangeIdUtil;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.util.StringUtils;
 
 /**
@@ -133,14 +134,26 @@ public class MergeMessageFormatter {
 	 */
 	public String formatWithConflicts(String message,
 			List<String> conflictingPaths) {
-		StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(message);
-		if (!message.endsWith("\n") && message.length() != 0) //$NON-NLS-1$
-			sb.append("\n"); //$NON-NLS-1$
-		sb.append("\n"); //$NON-NLS-1$
-		sb.append("Conflicts:\n");
+		StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
+		String[] lines = message.split("\n"); //$NON-NLS-1$
+		int firstFooterLine = ChangeIdUtil.indexOfFirstFooterLine(lines);
+		for (int i = 0; i < firstFooterLine; i++)
+			sb.append(lines[i]).append('\n');
+		if (firstFooterLine == lines.length && message.length() != 0)
+			sb.append('\n');
+		addConflictsMessage(conflictingPaths, sb);
+		if (firstFooterLine < lines.length)
+			sb.append('\n');
+		for (int i = firstFooterLine; i < lines.length; i++)
+			sb.append(lines[i]).append('\n');
+		return sb.toString();
+	}
+
+	private static void addConflictsMessage(List<String> conflictingPaths,
+			StringBuilder sb) {
+		sb.append("Conflicts:\n"); //$NON-NLS-1$
 		for (String conflictingPath : conflictingPaths)
 			sb.append('\t').append(conflictingPath).append('\n');
-		return sb.toString();
 	}
 
 	private static String joinNames(List<String> names, String singular,