diff --git a/t/t7508-status.sh b/t/t7508-status.sh
index cdc1d6fcc7..abad229e9d 100755
--- a/t/t7508-status.sh
+++ b/t/t7508-status.sh
@@ -717,6 +717,17 @@ test_expect_success TTY 'status -s with color.status' '
 
 '
 
+test_expect_success TTY 'status -s keeps colors with -z' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -f output.*" &&
+	test_terminal git status -s -z >output.raw &&
+	# convert back to newlines to avoid portability issues with
+	# test_decode_color and test_cmp, and to let us use the same expected
+	# output as earlier tests
+	tr "\0" "\n" <output.raw >output.nl &&
+	test_decode_color <output.nl >output &&
+	test_cmp expect output
+'
+
 cat >expect <<\EOF
 ## <YELLOW>main<RESET>...<CYAN>upstream<RESET> [ahead <YELLOW>1<RESET>, behind <CYAN>2<RESET>]
  <RED>M<RESET> dir1/modified
diff --git a/wt-status.c b/wt-status.c
index 8ffe6d3988..e12adb26b9 100644
--- a/wt-status.c
+++ b/wt-status.c
@@ -2042,13 +2042,13 @@ static void wt_shortstatus_status(struct string_list_item *it,
 static void wt_shortstatus_other(struct string_list_item *it,
 				 struct wt_status *s, const char *sign)
 {
+	color_fprintf(s->fp, color(WT_STATUS_UNTRACKED, s), "%s", sign);
 	if (s->null_termination) {
-		fprintf(s->fp, "%s %s%c", sign, it->string, 0);
+		fprintf(s->fp, " %s%c", it->string, 0);
 	} else {
 		struct strbuf onebuf = STRBUF_INIT;
 		const char *one;
 		one = quote_path(it->string, s->prefix, &onebuf, QUOTE_PATH_QUOTE_SP);
-		color_fprintf(s->fp, color(WT_STATUS_UNTRACKED, s), "%s", sign);
 		fprintf(s->fp, " %s\n", one);
 		strbuf_release(&onebuf);
 	}