diff --git a/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt b/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt
index a92ae6d1a36f800256a477f23c8280e2717b13c9..eb0c8c48ee257b87e4ae28351e91645d9221079e 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt
@@ -708,13 +708,18 @@ Exact byte count format::
 +
 ....
 	'data' SP <count> LF
-	<raw> LF
+	<raw> LF?
 ....
 +
 where `<count>` is the exact number of bytes appearing within
 `<raw>`.  The value of `<count>` is expressed as an ASCII decimal
 integer.  The `LF` on either side of `<raw>` is not
 included in `<count>` and will not be included in the imported data.
++
+The `LF` after `<raw>` is optional (it used to be required) but
+recommended.  Always including it makes debugging a fast-import
+stream easier as the next command always starts in column 0
+of the next line, even if `<raw>` did not end with an `LF`.
 
 Delimited format::
 	A delimiter string is used to mark the end of the data.
@@ -726,6 +731,7 @@ Delimited format::
 	'data' SP '<<' <delim> LF
 	<raw> LF
 	<delim> LF
+	LF?
 ....
 +
 where `<delim>` is the chosen delimiter string.  The string `<delim>`
@@ -734,6 +740,8 @@ fast-import will think the data ends earlier than it really does.  The `LF`
 immediately trailing `<raw>` is part of `<raw>`.  This is one of
 the limitations of the delimited format, it is impossible to supply
 a data chunk which does not have an LF as its last byte.
++
+The `LF` after `<delim> LF` is optional (it used to be required).
 
 `checkpoint`
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~
diff --git a/fast-import.c b/fast-import.c
index 98ebe4770d239eeee26aca339166bd271adc5d8d..f950cff5efb5d2f1a26eedf269626a52690e5178 100644
--- a/fast-import.c
+++ b/fast-import.c
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ Format of STDIN stream:
      #
   mark ::= 'mark' sp idnum lf;
   data ::= (delimited_data | exact_data)
-    lf;
+    lf?;
 
     # note: delim may be any string but must not contain lf.
     # data_line may contain any data but must not be exactly
@@ -1470,6 +1470,13 @@ static void read_next_command(void)
 	} while (!command_buf.eof && command_buf.buf[0] == '#');
 }
 
+static void skip_optional_lf()
+{
+	int term_char = fgetc(stdin);
+	if (term_char != '\n' && term_char != EOF)
+		ungetc(term_char, stdin);
+}
+
 static void cmd_mark(void)
 {
 	if (!prefixcmp(command_buf.buf, "mark :")) {
@@ -1522,9 +1529,7 @@ static void *cmd_data (size_t *size)
 		}
 	}
 
-	if (fgetc(stdin) != '\n')
-		die("An lf did not trail the binary data as expected.");
-
+	skip_optional_lf();
 	*size = length;
 	return buffer;
 }
diff --git a/t/t9300-fast-import.sh b/t/t9300-fast-import.sh
index 1f6426a49e5c42a865ca7fa2c736223b04105f46..5be6f196bdf8778f8a278107f29df8426d7cb02c 100755
--- a/t/t9300-fast-import.sh
+++ b/t/t9300-fast-import.sh
@@ -818,4 +818,25 @@ test_expect_success \
 	'git-fast-import <input &&
 	 test `git-rev-parse N3` = `git-rev-parse O1`'
 
+cat >input <<INPUT_END
+commit refs/heads/O2
+committer $GIT_COMMITTER_NAME <$GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL> $GIT_COMMITTER_DATE
+data <<COMMIT
+dirty directory copy
+COMMIT
+from refs/heads/branch^0
+M 644 inline file2/file5
+data <<EOF
+$file5_data
+EOF
+C file2 file3
+D file2/file5
+
+INPUT_END
+
+test_expect_success \
+	'O: blank lines not necessary after data commands' \
+	'git-fast-import <input &&
+	 test `git-rev-parse N3` = `git-rev-parse O2`'
+
 test_done