diff --git a/contrib/contacts/git-contacts b/contrib/contacts/git-contacts
index 85ad732fc0..e4656affb5 100755
--- a/contrib/contacts/git-contacts
+++ b/contrib/contacts/git-contacts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 # List people who might be interested in a patch.  Useful as the argument to
 # git-send-email --cc-cmd option, and in other situations.
 #
-# Usage: git contacts <file | rev-list option> ...
+# Usage: git contacts <file | '-' | rev-list option> ...
 
 use strict;
 use warnings;
@@ -162,9 +162,11 @@ if (!@ARGV) {
 	die "No input revisions or patch files\n";
 }
 
-my (@files, @rev_args);
+my ($read_from_stdin, @files, @rev_args);
 for (@ARGV) {
-	if (-e) {
+	if ($_ eq '-') {
+		$read_from_stdin = 1;
+	} elsif (-e) {
 		push @files, $_;
 	} else {
 		push @rev_args, $_;
@@ -172,6 +174,9 @@ for (@ARGV) {
 }
 
 my %sources;
+if ($read_from_stdin) {
+	scan_patches(\%sources, undef, \*STDIN);
+}
 for (@files) {
 	scan_patch_file(\%sources, $_);
 }
diff --git a/contrib/contacts/git-contacts.adoc b/contrib/contacts/git-contacts.adoc
index dd914d1261..ea5dd58826 100644
--- a/contrib/contacts/git-contacts.adoc
+++ b/contrib/contacts/git-contacts.adoc
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ git-contacts - List people who might be interested in a set of changes
 SYNOPSIS
 --------
 [verse]
-'git contacts' (<patch>|<range>|<rev>)...
+'git contacts' (<patch>|'-'|<range>|<rev>)...
 
 
 DESCRIPTION
@@ -23,8 +23,10 @@ which touched the lines of files under consideration.
 Input consists of one or more patch files or revision arguments.  A revision
 argument can be a range or a single `<rev>` which is interpreted as
 `<rev>..HEAD`, thus the same revision arguments are accepted as for
-linkgit:git-format-patch[1]. Patch files and revision arguments can be combined
-in the same invocation.
+linkgit:git-format-patch[1].  A single dash `'-'` character in place of a
+`<patch>` tells the command to read patch file(s) from the standard input.
+Patch files, standard input, and revision arguments can be combined in the same
+invocation.
 
 This command can be useful for determining the list of people with whom to
 discuss proposed changes, or for finding the list of recipients to Cc: when
@@ -73,6 +75,12 @@ $ git contacts R1..R2
 $ git contacts origin
 ------------
 
+* Input a patch via stdin:
++
+------------
+$ git contacts - <feature.patch
+------------
+
 * Helper for `git send-email`:
 +
 ------------