diff --git a/Documentation/gitattributes.txt b/Documentation/gitattributes.txt
index c61a58d8f2..db16b0ca5b 100644
--- a/Documentation/gitattributes.txt
+++ b/Documentation/gitattributes.txt
@@ -310,6 +310,8 @@ configuration file (you still need to enable this with the
 attribute mechanism, via `.gitattributes`).  The following built in
 patterns are available:
 
+- `bibtex` suitable for files with BibTeX coded references.
+
 - `java` suitable for source code in the Java lanugage.
 
 - `pascal` suitable for source code in the Pascal/Delphi language.
diff --git a/diff.c b/diff.c
index 6954f992c2..bf5d5f15a3 100644
--- a/diff.c
+++ b/diff.c
@@ -1387,6 +1387,7 @@ static struct builtin_funcname_pattern {
 			"\\|"
 			"^\\(.*=[ \t]*\\(class\\|record\\).*\\)$"
 			},
+	{ "bibtex", "\\(@[a-zA-Z]\\{1,\\}[ \t]*{\\{0,1\\}[ \t]*[^ \t\"@',\\#}{~%]*\\).*$" },
 	{ "tex", "^\\(\\\\\\(\\(sub\\)*section\\|chapter\\|part\\)\\*\\{0,1\\}{.*\\)$" },
 	{ "ruby", "^\\s*\\(\\(class\\|module\\|def\\)\\s.*\\)$" },
 };