diff --git a/git-filter-branch.sh b/git-filter-branch.sh
index e6e99f5..5b3f63d 100755
--- a/git-filter-branch.sh
+++ b/git-filter-branch.sh
@@ -346,7 +346,15 @@
 				die "parent filter failed: $filter_parent"
 	fi
 
-	sed -e '1,/^$/d' <../commit | \
+	{
+		while read -r header_line && test -n "$header_line"
+		do
+			# skip header lines...
+			:;
+		done
+		# and output the actual commit message
+		cat
+	} <../commit |
 		eval "$filter_msg" > ../message ||
 			die "msg filter failed: $filter_msg"
 	workdir=$workdir @SHELL_PATH@ -c "$filter_commit" "git commit-tree" \