diff --git a/rev-list.c b/rev-list.c
index 309070fedd..846aa2f79e 100644
--- a/rev-list.c
+++ b/rev-list.c
@@ -227,6 +227,17 @@ static void mark_parents_uninteresting(struct commit *commit)
 		struct commit *commit = parents->item;
 		commit->object.flags |= UNINTERESTING;
 
+		/*
+		 * Normally we haven't parsed the parent
+		 * yet, so we won't have a parent of a parent
+		 * here. However, it may turn out that we've
+		 * reached this commit some other way (where it
+		 * wasn't uninteresting), in which case we need
+		 * to mark its parents recursively too..
+		 */
+		if (commit->parents)
+			mark_parents_uninteresting(commit);
+
 		/*
 		 * A missing commit is ok iff its parent is marked 
 		 * uninteresting.