diff --git a/git-send-email.perl b/git-send-email.perl
index f4c07908d2..6b5d746bde 100755
--- a/git-send-email.perl
+++ b/git-send-email.perl
@@ -1835,7 +1835,7 @@ sub apply_transfer_encoding {
 	my $from = shift;
 	my $to = shift;
 
-	return $message if ($from eq $to and $from ne '7bit');
+	return ($message, $to) if ($from eq $to and $from ne '7bit');
 
 	require MIME::QuotedPrint;
 	require MIME::Base64;
diff --git a/t/t9001-send-email.sh b/t/t9001-send-email.sh
index 1da282c415..8e36a67b3a 100755
--- a/t/t9001-send-email.sh
+++ b/t/t9001-send-email.sh
@@ -493,6 +493,21 @@ do
 			--validate \
 			$patches longline.patch
 	'
+
+done
+
+for enc in 7bit 8bit quoted-printable base64
+do
+	test_expect_success $PREREQ "--transfer-encoding=$enc produces correct header" '
+		clean_fake_sendmail &&
+		git send-email \
+			--from="Example <nobody@example.com>" \
+			--to=nobody@example.com \
+			--smtp-server="$(pwd)/fake.sendmail" \
+			--transfer-encoding=$enc \
+			$patches &&
+		grep "Content-Transfer-Encoding: $enc" msgtxt1
+	'
 done
 
 test_expect_success $PREREQ 'Invalid In-Reply-To' '