diff --git a/Documentation/git-status.txt b/Documentation/git-status.txt
index 58d35fb3c257d76f6c26b3dcbbacdbed7327499a..b3dfa42cc0211dbd8881f471ac287fa0b9cd5915 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-status.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-status.txt
@@ -114,8 +114,8 @@ compatibility) and `color.status.<slot>` configuration variables
 to colorize its output.
 
 If the config variable `status.relativePaths` is set to false, then all
-paths shown in the long format are relative to the repository root, not
-to the current directory.
+paths shown are relative to the repository root, not to the current
+directory.
 
 If `status.submodulesummary` is set to a non zero number or true (identical
 to -1 or an unlimited number), the submodule summary will be enabled for
diff --git a/builtin-commit.c b/builtin-commit.c
index f2fd0a4580820dc3d78681a7bcd3145dc94a0513..f49b598cbdee2c48571b84567c8692d61443224f 100644
--- a/builtin-commit.c
+++ b/builtin-commit.c
@@ -1059,6 +1059,8 @@ int cmd_status(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	switch (status_format) {
 	case STATUS_FORMAT_SHORT:
+		if (s.relative_paths)
+			s.prefix = prefix;
 		short_print(&s, null_termination);
 		break;
 	case STATUS_FORMAT_PORCELAIN: