diff --git a/sequencer.c b/sequencer.c
index a4d85f1fbd..debb2ecbaf 100644
--- a/sequencer.c
+++ b/sequencer.c
@@ -915,7 +915,7 @@ int read_author_script(const char *path, char **name, char **email, char **date,
 		error(_("missing 'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL'"));
 	if (date_i == -2)
 		error(_("missing 'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE'"));
-	if (date_i < 0 || email_i < 0 || date_i < 0 || err)
+	if (name_i < 0 || email_i < 0 || date_i < 0 || err)
 		goto finish;
 	*name = kv.items[name_i].util;
 	*email = kv.items[email_i].util;
diff --git a/t/t3438-rebase-broken-files.sh b/t/t3438-rebase-broken-files.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..b92a3ce46b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/t3438-rebase-broken-files.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+test_description='rebase behavior when on-disk files are broken'
+. ./test-lib.sh
+
+test_expect_success 'set up conflicting branches' '
+	test_commit base file &&
+	git checkout -b branch1 &&
+	test_commit one file &&
+	git checkout -b branch2 HEAD^ &&
+	test_commit two file
+'
+
+create_conflict () {
+	test_when_finished "git rebase --abort" &&
+	git checkout -B tmp branch2 &&
+	test_must_fail git rebase branch1
+}
+
+check_resolve_fails () {
+	echo resolved >file &&
+	git add file &&
+	test_must_fail git rebase --continue
+}
+
+for item in NAME EMAIL DATE
+do
+	test_expect_success "detect missing GIT_AUTHOR_$item" '
+		create_conflict &&
+
+		grep -v $item .git/rebase-merge/author-script >tmp &&
+		mv tmp .git/rebase-merge/author-script &&
+
+		check_resolve_fails
+	'
+done
+
+for item in NAME EMAIL DATE
+do
+	test_expect_success "detect duplicate GIT_AUTHOR_$item" '
+		create_conflict &&
+
+		grep -i $item .git/rebase-merge/author-script >tmp &&
+		cat tmp >>.git/rebase-merge/author-script &&
+
+		check_resolve_fails
+	'
+done
+
+test_expect_success 'unknown key in author-script' '
+	create_conflict &&
+
+	echo "GIT_AUTHOR_BOGUS=${SQ}whatever${SQ}" \
+		>>.git/rebase-merge/author-script &&
+
+	check_resolve_fails
+'
+
+test_done