diff --git a/builtin/apply.c b/builtin/apply.c
index 6696ea4c3ffd4f7af04f3f56609a78a74a0a0b55..606eddd5f6dcd6b3982f9acc6eb6f93eee235649 100644
--- a/builtin/apply.c
+++ b/builtin/apply.c
@@ -1639,6 +1639,9 @@ static int parse_fragment(const char *line, unsigned long size,
 	}
 	if (oldlines || newlines)
 		return -1;
+	if (!deleted && !added)
+		return -1;
+
 	fragment->leading = leading;
 	fragment->trailing = trailing;
 
diff --git a/t/t4136-apply-check.sh b/t/t4136-apply-check.sh
index a321f7c245da531cb8fea495a5e7ba02b3a6463b..4b0a374b63f4128405c88fdb2410fb679bdd06a1 100755
--- a/t/t4136-apply-check.sh
+++ b/t/t4136-apply-check.sh
@@ -16,4 +16,17 @@ test_expect_success 'apply --check exits non-zero with unrecognized input' '
 	EOF
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'apply exits non-zero with no-op patch' '
+	cat >input <<-\EOF &&
+	diff --get a/1 b/1
+	index 6696ea4..606eddd 100644
+	--- a/1
+	+++ b/1
+	@@ -1,1 +1,1 @@
+	 1
+	EOF
+	test_must_fail git apply --stat input &&
+	test_must_fail git apply --check input
+'
+
 test_done