diff --git a/revision.c b/revision.c
index 1c9934fb4d..9348820657 100644
--- a/revision.c
+++ b/revision.c
@@ -2738,7 +2738,7 @@ void parse_revision_opt(struct rev_info *revs, struct parse_opt_ctx_t *ctx,
 		/* handle_revision_opt() has already reported the error. */
 		usage_with_options(usagestr, options);
 	} else if (!n) {
-		error("unknown option `%s'", ctx->argv[0]);
+		error("unknown option `%s'", ctx->out[ctx->cpidx - 1]);
 		usage_with_options(usagestr, options);
 	}
 	ctx->argv += n;
diff --git a/t/t4201-shortlog.sh b/t/t4201-shortlog.sh
index cde519402e..99825e91d7 100755
--- a/t/t4201-shortlog.sh
+++ b/t/t4201-shortlog.sh
@@ -440,4 +440,9 @@ test_expect_success 'invalid revision options are not reported as unknown' '
 	test_grep ! "unknown option" err
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'unknown revision options are reported correctly' '
+	test_must_fail git shortlog -n --no-such-option 2>err &&
+	test_grep "unknown option .*--no-such-option" err
+'
+
 test_done