diff --git a/git-rebase--interactive.sh b/git-rebase--interactive.sh
index 2fa53fd..653393d 100755
--- a/git-rebase--interactive.sh
+++ b/git-rebase--interactive.sh
@@ -261,9 +261,9 @@
 		esac
 
 		failed=f
+		author_script=$(get_author_ident_from_commit HEAD)
 		output git reset --soft HEAD^
 		pick_one -n $sha1 || failed=t
-		author_script=$(get_author_ident_from_commit $sha1)
 		echo "$author_script" > "$DOTEST"/author-script
 		case $failed in
 		f)