diff --git a/git-apply-patch-script b/git-apply-patch-script
index 13ec1c4490..0849a3e68b 100755
--- a/git-apply-patch-script
+++ b/git-apply-patch-script
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 #
 
 case "$#" in
-2)
+1)
     echo >&2 "cannot handle unmerged diff on path $1."
     exit 1 ;;
 esac