diff --git a/diff.c b/diff.c
index f9709de7b4..f175019eb7 100644
--- a/diff.c
+++ b/diff.c
@@ -6044,6 +6044,8 @@ static void patch_id_consume(void *priv, char *line, unsigned long len)
 	struct patch_id_t *data = priv;
 	int new_len;
 
+	if (len > 12 && starts_with(line, "\\ "))
+		return;
 	new_len = remove_space(line, len);
 
 	the_hash_algo->update_fn(data->ctx, line, new_len);
diff --git a/t/t3500-cherry.sh b/t/t3500-cherry.sh
index f038f34b7c..2b8d9cb38e 100755
--- a/t/t3500-cherry.sh
+++ b/t/t3500-cherry.sh
@@ -55,4 +55,27 @@ test_expect_success \
      expr "$(echo $(git cherry master my-topic-branch) )" : "+ [^ ]* - .*"
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'cherry ignores whitespace' '
+	git switch --orphan=upstream-with-space &&
+	test_commit initial file &&
+	>expect &&
+	git switch --create=feature-without-space &&
+
+	# A spaceless file on the feature branch.  Expect a match upstream.
+	printf space >file &&
+	git add file &&
+	git commit -m"file without space" &&
+	git log --format="- %H" -1 >>expect &&
+
+	# A further change.  Should not match upstream.
+	test_commit change file &&
+	git log --format="+ %H" -1 >>expect &&
+
+	git switch upstream-with-space &&
+	# Same as the spaceless file, just with spaces and on upstream.
+	test_commit "file with space" file "s p a c e" file-with-space &&
+	git cherry upstream-with-space feature-without-space >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_done