diff --git a/contrib/completion/git-prompt.sh b/contrib/completion/git-prompt.sh
index 76ee4ab1e5..2c030050ae 100644
--- a/contrib/completion/git-prompt.sh
+++ b/contrib/completion/git-prompt.sh
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ __git_ps1_colorize_gitstring ()
 # variable, in that order.
 __git_eread ()
 {
-	test -r "$1" && IFS=$'\r\n' read "$2" <"$1"
+	test -r "$1" && IFS=$'\r\n' read -r "$2" <"$1"
 }
 
 # see if a cherry-pick or revert is in progress, if the user has committed a