diff --git a/builtin/log.c b/builtin/log.c
index 8aa1777940..c8319b8af3 100644
--- a/builtin/log.c
+++ b/builtin/log.c
@@ -1406,13 +1406,12 @@ static void make_cover_letter(struct rev_info *rev, int use_separate_file,
 		 * can be added later if deemed desirable.
 		 */
 		struct diff_options opts;
-		struct strvec other_arg = STRVEC_INIT;
 		struct range_diff_options range_diff_opts = {
 			.creation_factor = rev->creation_factor,
 			.dual_color = 1,
 			.max_memory = RANGE_DIFF_MAX_MEMORY_DEFAULT,
 			.diffopt = &opts,
-			.other_arg = &other_arg
+			.log_arg = &rev->rdiff_log_arg
 		};
 
 		repo_diff_setup(the_repository, &opts);
@@ -1420,9 +1419,7 @@ static void make_cover_letter(struct rev_info *rev, int use_separate_file,
 		opts.use_color = rev->diffopt.use_color;
 		diff_setup_done(&opts);
 		fprintf_ln(rev->diffopt.file, "%s", rev->rdiff_title);
-		get_notes_args(&other_arg, rev);
 		show_range_diff(rev->rdiff1, rev->rdiff2, &range_diff_opts);
-		strvec_clear(&other_arg);
 	}
 }
 
@@ -2334,6 +2331,7 @@ int cmd_format_patch(int argc,
 		rev.rdiff_title = diff_title(&rdiff_title, reroll_count,
 					     _("Range-diff:"),
 					     _("Range-diff against v%d:"));
+		get_notes_args(&(rev.rdiff_log_arg), &rev);
 	}
 
 	/*
@@ -2493,6 +2491,7 @@ done:
 	rev.diffopt.no_free = 0;
 	release_revisions(&rev);
 	format_config_release(&cfg);
+	strvec_clear(&rev.rdiff_log_arg);
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/builtin/range-diff.c b/builtin/range-diff.c
index 1bc082a869..e54c0f7fe1 100644
--- a/builtin/range-diff.c
+++ b/builtin/range-diff.c
@@ -38,13 +38,13 @@ int cmd_range_diff(int argc,
 		   struct repository *repo UNUSED)
 {
 	struct diff_options diffopt = { NULL };
-	struct strvec other_arg = STRVEC_INIT;
+	struct strvec log_arg = STRVEC_INIT;
 	struct strvec diff_merges_arg = STRVEC_INIT;
 	struct range_diff_options range_diff_opts = {
 		.creation_factor = RANGE_DIFF_CREATION_FACTOR_DEFAULT,
 		.max_memory = RANGE_DIFF_MAX_MEMORY_DEFAULT,
 		.diffopt = &diffopt,
-		.other_arg = &other_arg
+		.log_arg = &log_arg
 	};
 	int simple_color = -1, left_only = 0, right_only = 0;
 	struct option range_diff_options[] = {
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ int cmd_range_diff(int argc,
 			    N_("percentage by which creation is weighted")),
 		OPT_BOOL(0, "no-dual-color", &simple_color,
 			    N_("use simple diff colors")),
-		OPT_PASSTHRU_ARGV(0, "notes", &other_arg,
+		OPT_PASSTHRU_ARGV(0, "notes", &log_arg,
 				  N_("notes"), N_("passed to 'git log'"),
 				  PARSE_OPT_OPTARG),
 		OPT_PASSTHRU_ARGV(0, "diff-merges", &diff_merges_arg,
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ int cmd_range_diff(int argc,
 	/* If `--diff-merges` was specified, imply `--merges` */
 	if (diff_merges_arg.nr) {
 		range_diff_opts.include_merges = 1;
-		strvec_pushv(&other_arg, diff_merges_arg.v);
+		strvec_pushv(&log_arg, diff_merges_arg.v);
 	}
 
 	for (i = 0; i < argc; i++)
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ int cmd_range_diff(int argc,
 		strbuf_addf(&range1, "%s..%s", argv[0], argv[1]);
 		strbuf_addf(&range2, "%s..%s", argv[0], argv[2]);
 
-		strvec_pushv(&other_arg, argv +
+		strvec_pushv(&log_arg, argv +
 			     (dash_dash < 0 ? 3 : dash_dash));
 	} else if (dash_dash == 2 ||
 		   (dash_dash < 0 && argc > 1 &&
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ int cmd_range_diff(int argc,
 		strbuf_addstr(&range1, argv[0]);
 		strbuf_addstr(&range2, argv[1]);
 
-		strvec_pushv(&other_arg, argv +
+		strvec_pushv(&log_arg, argv +
 			     (dash_dash < 0 ? 2 : dash_dash));
 	} else if (dash_dash == 1 ||
 		   (dash_dash < 0 && argc > 0 &&
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ int cmd_range_diff(int argc,
 		strbuf_addf(&range1, "%s..%.*s", b, a_len, a);
 		strbuf_addf(&range2, "%.*s..%s", a_len, a, b);
 
-		strvec_pushv(&other_arg, argv +
+		strvec_pushv(&log_arg, argv +
 			     (dash_dash < 0 ? 1 : dash_dash));
 	} else
 		usage_msg_opt(_("need two commit ranges"),
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ int cmd_range_diff(int argc,
 	range_diff_opts.right_only = right_only;
 	res = show_range_diff(range1.buf, range2.buf, &range_diff_opts);
 
-	strvec_clear(&other_arg);
+	strvec_clear(&log_arg);
 	strvec_clear(&diff_merges_arg);
 	strbuf_release(&range1);
 	strbuf_release(&range2);
diff --git a/log-tree.c b/log-tree.c
index 67d9ace596..7d917f2a83 100644
--- a/log-tree.c
+++ b/log-tree.c
@@ -718,7 +718,8 @@ static void show_diff_of_diff(struct rev_info *opt)
 			.creation_factor = opt->creation_factor,
 			.dual_color = 1,
 			.max_memory = RANGE_DIFF_MAX_MEMORY_DEFAULT,
-			.diffopt = &opts
+			.diffopt = &opts,
+			.log_arg = &opt->rdiff_log_arg
 		};
 
 		memcpy(&dq, &diff_queued_diff, sizeof(diff_queued_diff));
diff --git a/range-diff.c b/range-diff.c
index ca449a0769..57edff40a8 100644
--- a/range-diff.c
+++ b/range-diff.c
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ struct patch_util {
  * as struct object_id (will need to be free()d).
  */
 static int read_patches(const char *range, struct string_list *list,
-			const struct strvec *other_arg,
+			const struct strvec *log_arg,
 			unsigned int include_merges)
 {
 	struct child_process cp = CHILD_PROCESS_INIT;
@@ -69,8 +69,8 @@ static int read_patches(const char *range, struct string_list *list,
 	if (!include_merges)
 		strvec_push(&cp.args, "--no-merges");
 	strvec_push(&cp.args, range);
-	if (other_arg)
-		strvec_pushv(&cp.args, other_arg->v);
+	if (log_arg)
+		strvec_pushv(&cp.args, log_arg->v);
 	cp.out = -1;
 	cp.no_stdin = 1;
 	cp.git_cmd = 1;
@@ -594,9 +594,9 @@ int show_range_diff(const char *range1, const char *range2,
 	if (range_diff_opts->left_only && range_diff_opts->right_only)
 		res = error(_("options '%s' and '%s' cannot be used together"), "--left-only", "--right-only");
 
-	if (!res && read_patches(range1, &branch1, range_diff_opts->other_arg, include_merges))
+	if (!res && read_patches(range1, &branch1, range_diff_opts->log_arg, include_merges))
 		res = error(_("could not parse log for '%s'"), range1);
-	if (!res && read_patches(range2, &branch2, range_diff_opts->other_arg, include_merges))
+	if (!res && read_patches(range2, &branch2, range_diff_opts->log_arg, include_merges))
 		res = error(_("could not parse log for '%s'"), range2);
 
 	if (!res) {
diff --git a/range-diff.h b/range-diff.h
index 9d39818e34..9b70a80009 100644
--- a/range-diff.h
+++ b/range-diff.h
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ struct range_diff_options {
 	unsigned include_merges:1;
 	size_t max_memory;
 	const struct diff_options *diffopt; /* may be NULL */
-	const struct strvec *other_arg; /* may be NULL */
+	const struct strvec *log_arg; /* may be NULL */
 };
 
 /*
diff --git a/revision.h b/revision.h
index a28e349044..b36acfc2d9 100644
--- a/revision.h
+++ b/revision.h
@@ -334,6 +334,7 @@ struct rev_info {
 	/* range-diff */
 	const char *rdiff1;
 	const char *rdiff2;
+	struct strvec rdiff_log_arg;
 	int creation_factor;
 	const char *rdiff_title;
 
@@ -410,6 +411,7 @@ struct rev_info {
 	.expand_tabs_in_log = -1, \
 	.commit_format = CMIT_FMT_DEFAULT, \
 	.expand_tabs_in_log_default = 8, \
+	.rdiff_log_arg = STRVEC_INIT, \
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/t/t3206-range-diff.sh b/t/t3206-range-diff.sh
index e091df6d01..1e812df806 100755
--- a/t/t3206-range-diff.sh
+++ b/t/t3206-range-diff.sh
@@ -707,7 +707,7 @@ test_expect_success 'format-patch --range-diff does not compare notes by default
 	! grep "note" 0000-*
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'format-patch --notes=custom --range-diff only compares custom notes' '
+test_expect_success 'format-patch --notes=custom --range-diff --cover-letter only compares custom notes' '
 	test_when_finished "git notes remove topic unmodified || :" &&
 	git notes add -m "topic note" topic &&
 	git notes add -m "unmodified note" unmodified &&
@@ -721,6 +721,20 @@ test_expect_success 'format-patch --notes=custom --range-diff only compares cust
 	! grep "## Notes ##" 0000-*
 '
 
+# --range-diff on a single commit requires --no-cover-letter
+test_expect_success 'format-patch --notes=custom --range-diff on single commit only compares custom notes' '
+	test_when_finished "git notes remove HEAD unmodified || :" &&
+	git notes add -m "topic note" HEAD &&
+	test_when_finished "git notes --ref=custom remove HEAD unmodified || :" &&
+	git notes add -m "unmodified note" unmodified &&
+	git notes --ref=custom add -m "topic note (custom)" HEAD &&
+	git notes --ref=custom add -m "unmodified note (custom)" unmodified &&
+	git format-patch --notes=custom --range-diff=$prev \
+		-1 --stdout >actual &&
+	test_grep "## Notes (custom) ##" actual &&
+	test_grep ! "## Notes ##" actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'format-patch --range-diff with --no-notes' '
 	test_when_finished "git notes remove topic unmodified || :" &&
 	git notes add -m "topic note" topic &&