diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/T0001_PersonIdentTest.java b/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/T0001_PersonIdentTest.java
index 86d8206b3..19181f5ff 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/T0001_PersonIdentTest.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/T0001_PersonIdentTest.java
@@ -132,4 +132,11 @@ public class T0001_PersonIdentTest {
 		assertTrue(externalString.startsWith(" <>"));
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void testAppendSanitized() {
+		StringBuilder r = new StringBuilder();
+		PersonIdent.appendSanitized(r, " Baz>\n\u1234<Quux ");
+		assertEquals("Baz\u1234Quux", r.toString());
+	}
 }
+
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/PersonIdent.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/PersonIdent.java
index f352f3996..e08a98529 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/PersonIdent.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/PersonIdent.java
@@ -122,8 +122,9 @@ public class PersonIdent implements Serializable {
 	 *            string builder to append to.
 	 * @param str
 	 *            input string.
+	 * @since 4.4
 	 */
-	private static void appendSanitized(StringBuilder r, String str) {
+	public static void appendSanitized(StringBuilder r, String str) {
 		// Trim any whitespace less than \u0020 as in String#trim().
 		int i = 0;
 		while (i < str.length() && str.charAt(i) <= ' ') {
@@ -318,6 +319,9 @@ public class PersonIdent implements Serializable {
 		return tzOffset;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Hashcode is based only on the email address and timestamp.
+	 */
 	public int hashCode() {
 		int hc = getEmailAddress().hashCode();
 		hc *= 31;
@@ -370,3 +374,4 @@ public class PersonIdent implements Serializable {
 		return r.toString();
 	}
 }
+