diff --git a/git-commit.sh b/git-commit.sh
index cad16a5e868730dd56f79baf711aed138d7cafe1..fdaedc0e2e6bcfd33816e3c165fbd5ae48e27eee 100755
--- a/git-commit.sh
+++ b/git-commit.sh
@@ -360,7 +360,7 @@ t,)
 		if test -z "$initial_commit"
 		then
 			cp "$THIS_INDEX" "$TMP_INDEX"
-			GIT_INDEX_FILE="$TMP_INDEX" git-read-tree -m HEAD
+			GIT_INDEX_FILE="$TMP_INDEX" git-read-tree -i -m HEAD
 		else
 			rm -f "$TMP_INDEX"
 		fi || exit