diff --git a/Documentation/git-status.txt b/Documentation/git-status.txt
index 3d51717bbe..16ae5c3f27 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-status.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-status.txt
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ order is reversed (e.g 'from \-> to' becomes 'to from'). Second, a NUL
 and the terminating newline (but a space still separates the status
 field from the first filename).  Third, filenames containing special
 characters are not specially formatted; no quoting or
-backslash-escaping is performed. Fourth, there is no branch line.
+backslash-escaping is performed.
 
 CONFIGURATION
 -------------
diff --git a/builtin/commit.c b/builtin/commit.c
index 85cbeef0f4..e2d9cbe3e3 100644
--- a/builtin/commit.c
+++ b/builtin/commit.c
@@ -114,7 +114,6 @@ static enum {
 	STATUS_FORMAT_SHORT,
 	STATUS_FORMAT_PORCELAIN
 } status_format = STATUS_FORMAT_LONG;
-static int status_show_branch;
 
 static int opt_parse_m(const struct option *opt, const char *arg, int unset)
 {
@@ -459,7 +458,7 @@ static int run_status(FILE *fp, const char *index_file, const char *prefix, int
 
 	switch (status_format) {
 	case STATUS_FORMAT_SHORT:
-		wt_shortstatus_print(s, status_show_branch);
+		wt_shortstatus_print(s);
 		break;
 	case STATUS_FORMAT_PORCELAIN:
 		wt_porcelain_print(s);
@@ -1175,7 +1174,7 @@ int cmd_status(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT__VERBOSE(&verbose, "be verbose"),
 		OPT_SET_INT('s', "short", &status_format,
 			    "show status concisely", STATUS_FORMAT_SHORT),
-		OPT_BOOLEAN('b', "branch", &status_show_branch,
+		OPT_BOOLEAN('b', "branch", &s.show_branch,
 			    "show branch information"),
 		OPT_SET_INT(0, "porcelain", &status_format,
 			    "machine-readable output",
@@ -1230,7 +1229,7 @@ int cmd_status(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	switch (status_format) {
 	case STATUS_FORMAT_SHORT:
-		wt_shortstatus_print(&s, status_show_branch);
+		wt_shortstatus_print(&s);
 		break;
 	case STATUS_FORMAT_PORCELAIN:
 		wt_porcelain_print(&s);
@@ -1402,7 +1401,7 @@ int cmd_commit(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "dry-run", &dry_run, "show what would be committed"),
 		OPT_SET_INT(0, "short", &status_format, "show status concisely",
 			    STATUS_FORMAT_SHORT),
-		OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "branch", &status_show_branch, "show branch information"),
+		OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "branch", &s.show_branch, "show branch information"),
 		OPT_SET_INT(0, "porcelain", &status_format,
 			    "machine-readable output", STATUS_FORMAT_PORCELAIN),
 		OPT_BOOLEAN('z', "null", &s.null_termination,
diff --git a/t/t7508-status.sh b/t/t7508-status.sh
index 24728facf9..5d0e79fe2a 100755
--- a/t/t7508-status.sh
+++ b/t/t7508-status.sh
@@ -656,9 +656,14 @@ test_expect_success 'status --porcelain ignores color.status' '
 git config --unset color.status
 git config --unset color.ui
 
-test_expect_success 'status --porcelain ignores -b' '
+test_expect_success 'status --porcelain respects -b' '
 
 	git status --porcelain -b >output &&
+	{
+		echo "## master" &&
+		cat expect
+	} >tmp &&
+	mv tmp expect &&
 	test_cmp expect output
 
 '
diff --git a/wt-status.c b/wt-status.c
index b5305ae5f4..bc268ceda0 100644
--- a/wt-status.c
+++ b/wt-status.c
@@ -918,11 +918,11 @@ static void wt_shortstatus_print_tracking(struct wt_status *s)
 	fputc(s->null_termination ? '\0' : '\n', s->fp);
 }
 
-void wt_shortstatus_print(struct wt_status *s, int show_branch)
+void wt_shortstatus_print(struct wt_status *s)
 {
 	int i;
 
-	if (show_branch)
+	if (s->show_branch)
 		wt_shortstatus_print_tracking(s);
 
 	for (i = 0; i < s->change.nr; i++) {
@@ -955,5 +955,5 @@ void wt_porcelain_print(struct wt_status *s)
 	s->use_color = 0;
 	s->relative_paths = 0;
 	s->prefix = NULL;
-	wt_shortstatus_print(s, 0);
+	wt_shortstatus_print(s);
 }
diff --git a/wt-status.h b/wt-status.h
index 34a8d7614f..ab3c7cc8a1 100644
--- a/wt-status.h
+++ b/wt-status.h
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ struct wt_status {
 	const char *ignore_submodule_arg;
 	char color_palette[WT_STATUS_MAXSLOT][COLOR_MAXLEN];
 	int null_termination;
+	int show_branch;
 
 	/* These are computed during processing of the individual sections */
 	int commitable;
@@ -73,7 +74,7 @@ void wt_status_prepare(struct wt_status *s);
 void wt_status_print(struct wt_status *s);
 void wt_status_collect(struct wt_status *s);
 
-void wt_shortstatus_print(struct wt_status *s, int show_branch);
+void wt_shortstatus_print(struct wt_status *s);
 void wt_porcelain_print(struct wt_status *s);
 
 void status_printf_ln(struct wt_status *s, const char *color, const char *fmt, ...)