diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/api/CommitAndLogCommandTests.java b/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/api/CommitAndLogCommandTests.java
index 3d79357bd..d863f45d5 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/api/CommitAndLogCommandTests.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/api/CommitAndLogCommandTests.java
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Repository;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.RepositoryTestCase;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.revwalk.RevCommit;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.revwalk.RevWalk;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.storage.file.ReflogReader;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.treewalk.TreeWalk;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.util.FileUtils;
 import org.junit.Test;
@@ -150,8 +151,8 @@ public class CommitAndLogCommandTests extends RepositoryTestCase {
 
 	@Test
 	public void testSomeCommits() throws NoHeadException, NoMessageException,
-			UnmergedPathException, ConcurrentRefUpdateException,
-			JGitInternalException, WrongRepositoryStateException {
+			ConcurrentRefUpdateException, JGitInternalException,
+			WrongRepositoryStateException, IOException {
 
 		// do 4 commits
 		Git git = new Git(db);
@@ -180,6 +181,8 @@ public class CommitAndLogCommandTests extends RepositoryTestCase {
 			l--;
 		}
 		assertEquals(l, -1);
+		ReflogReader reader = db.getReflogReader(Constants.HEAD);
+		assertTrue(reader.getLastEntry().getComment().startsWith("commit:"));
 	}
 
 	// try to do a commit without specifying a message. Should fail!
@@ -319,8 +322,8 @@ public class CommitAndLogCommandTests extends RepositoryTestCase {
 
 	@Test
 	public void testCommitAmend() throws NoHeadException, NoMessageException,
-			UnmergedPathException, ConcurrentRefUpdateException,
-			JGitInternalException, WrongRepositoryStateException {
+			ConcurrentRefUpdateException, JGitInternalException,
+			WrongRepositoryStateException, IOException {
 		Git git = new Git(db);
 		git.commit().setMessage("first comit").call(); // typo
 		git.commit().setAmend(true).setMessage("first commit").call();
@@ -332,6 +335,9 @@ public class CommitAndLogCommandTests extends RepositoryTestCase {
 			c++;
 		}
 		assertEquals(1, c);
+		ReflogReader reader = db.getReflogReader(Constants.HEAD);
+		assertTrue(reader.getLastEntry().getComment()
+				.startsWith("commit (amend):"));
 	}
 
 	@Test
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/api/CommitCommand.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/api/CommitCommand.java
index 8d9ce9818..0d7a7da8d 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/api/CommitCommand.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/api/CommitCommand.java
@@ -211,8 +211,9 @@ public class CommitCommand extends GitCommand<RevCommit> {
 						RevCommit revCommit = revWalk.parseCommit(commitId);
 						RefUpdate ru = repo.updateRef(Constants.HEAD);
 						ru.setNewObjectId(commitId);
-						ru.setRefLogMessage("commit : "
-								+ revCommit.getShortMessage(), false);
+						String prefix = amend ? "commit (amend): " : "commit: ";
+						ru.setRefLogMessage(
+								prefix + revCommit.getShortMessage(), false);
 
 						ru.setExpectedOldObjectId(headId);
 						Result rc = ru.forceUpdate();