diff --git a/Documentation/git-svn.txt b/Documentation/git-svn.txt
index bb22d8e712..5027f9fbd7 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-svn.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-svn.txt
@@ -170,8 +170,9 @@ and have no uncommitted changes.
 	It is recommended that you run 'git-svn' fetch and rebase (not
 	pull or merge) your commits against the latest changes in the
 	SVN repository.
-	An optional command-line argument may be specified as an
-	alternative to HEAD.
+	An optional revision or branch argument may be specified, and
+	causes 'git-svn' to do all work on that revision/branch
+	instead of HEAD.
 	This is advantageous over 'set-tree' (below) because it produces
 	cleaner, more linear history.
 +
diff --git a/git-svn.perl b/git-svn.perl
index 33017974d0..33fe34cbac 100755
--- a/git-svn.perl
+++ b/git-svn.perl
@@ -454,8 +454,22 @@ sub cmd_dcommit {
 		'Cannot dcommit with a dirty index.  Commit your changes first, '
 		. "or stash them with `git stash'.\n";
 	$head ||= 'HEAD';
+
+	my $old_head;
+	if ($head ne 'HEAD') {
+		$old_head = eval {
+			command_oneline([qw/symbolic-ref -q HEAD/])
+		};
+		if ($old_head) {
+			$old_head =~ s{^refs/heads/}{};
+		} else {
+			$old_head = eval { command_oneline(qw/rev-parse HEAD/) };
+		}
+		command(['checkout', $head], STDERR => 0);
+	}
+
 	my @refs;
-	my ($url, $rev, $uuid, $gs) = working_head_info($head, \@refs);
+	my ($url, $rev, $uuid, $gs) = working_head_info('HEAD', \@refs);
 	unless ($gs) {
 		die "Unable to determine upstream SVN information from ",
 		    "$head history.\nPerhaps the repository is empty.";
@@ -541,7 +555,7 @@ sub cmd_dcommit {
 			if (@diff) {
 				@refs = ();
 				my ($url_, $rev_, $uuid_, $gs_) =
-				              working_head_info($head, \@refs);
+				              working_head_info('HEAD', \@refs);
 				my ($linear_refs_, $parents_) =
 				              linearize_history($gs_, \@refs);
 				if (scalar(@$linear_refs) !=
@@ -579,6 +593,22 @@ sub cmd_dcommit {
 			}
 		}
 	}
+
+	if ($old_head) {
+		my $new_head = command_oneline(qw/rev-parse HEAD/);
+		my $new_is_symbolic = eval {
+			command_oneline(qw/symbolic-ref -q HEAD/);
+		};
+		if ($new_is_symbolic) {
+			print "dcommitted the branch ", $head, "\n";
+		} else {
+			print "dcommitted on a detached HEAD because you gave ",
+			      "a revision argument.\n",
+			      "The rewritten commit is: ", $new_head, "\n";
+		}
+		command(['checkout', $old_head], STDERR => 0);
+	}
+
 	unlink $gs->{index};
 }
 
diff --git a/t/t9100-git-svn-basic.sh b/t/t9100-git-svn-basic.sh
index 64aa7e2f10..570e0359e4 100755
--- a/t/t9100-git-svn-basic.sh
+++ b/t/t9100-git-svn-basic.sh
@@ -231,6 +231,25 @@ test_expect_success \
                               "^:refs/${remotes_git_svn}$"
         '
 
+test_expect_success 'dcommit $rev does not clobber current branch' '
+	git svn fetch -i bar &&
+	git checkout -b my-bar refs/remotes/bar &&
+	echo 1 > foo &&
+	git add foo &&
+	git commit -m "change 1" &&
+	echo 2 > foo &&
+	git add foo &&
+	git commit -m "change 2" &&
+	old_head=$(git rev-parse HEAD) &&
+	git svn dcommit -i bar HEAD^ &&
+	test $old_head = $(git rev-parse HEAD) &&
+	test refs/heads/my-bar = $(git symbolic-ref HEAD) &&
+	git log refs/remotes/bar | grep "change 1" &&
+	! git log refs/remotes/bar | grep "change 2" &&
+	git checkout master &&
+	git branch -D my-bar
+	'
+
 test_expect_success 'able to dcommit to a subdirectory' "
 	git svn fetch -i bar &&
 	git checkout -b my-bar refs/remotes/bar &&