diff --git a/Documentation/diff-options.txt b/Documentation/diff-options.txt
index 7b7b9e8ce9..e112172ca5 100644
--- a/Documentation/diff-options.txt
+++ b/Documentation/diff-options.txt
@@ -16,6 +16,11 @@
 	The width of the filename part can be controlled by
 	giving another width to it separated by a comma.
 
+--numstat::
+	Similar to \--stat, but shows number of added and
+	deleted lines in decimal notation and pathname without
+	abbreviation, to make it more machine friendly.
+
 --summary::
 	Output a condensed summary of extended header information
 	such as creations, renames and mode changes.
diff --git a/combine-diff.c b/combine-diff.c
index 46d9121baf..65c786807b 100644
--- a/combine-diff.c
+++ b/combine-diff.c
@@ -856,8 +856,10 @@ void diff_tree_combined(const unsigned char *sha1,
 		/* show stat against the first parent even
 		 * when doing combined diff.
 		 */
-		if (i == 0 && opt->output_format & DIFF_FORMAT_DIFFSTAT)
-			diffopts.output_format = DIFF_FORMAT_DIFFSTAT;
+		int stat_opt = (opt->output_format &
+				(DIFF_FORMAT_NUMSTAT|DIFF_FORMAT_DIFFSTAT));
+		if (i == 0 && stat_opt)
+			diffopts.output_format = stat_opt;
 		else
 			diffopts.output_format = DIFF_FORMAT_NO_OUTPUT;
 		diff_tree_sha1(parent[i], sha1, "", &diffopts);
@@ -887,7 +889,8 @@ void diff_tree_combined(const unsigned char *sha1,
 			}
 			needsep = 1;
 		}
-		else if (opt->output_format & DIFF_FORMAT_DIFFSTAT)
+		else if (opt->output_format &
+			 (DIFF_FORMAT_NUMSTAT|DIFF_FORMAT_DIFFSTAT))
 			needsep = 1;
 		if (opt->output_format & DIFF_FORMAT_PATCH) {
 			if (needsep)
diff --git a/diff.c b/diff.c
index fb8243261c..2dcad1942c 100644
--- a/diff.c
+++ b/diff.c
@@ -795,6 +795,23 @@ static void show_stats(struct diffstat_t* data, struct diff_options *options)
 	       set, total_files, adds, dels, reset);
 }
 
+static void show_numstat(struct diffstat_t* data, struct diff_options *options)
+{
+	int i;
+
+	for (i = 0; i < data->nr; i++) {
+		struct diffstat_file *file = data->files[i];
+
+		printf("%d\t%d\t", file->added, file->deleted);
+		if (options->line_termination &&
+		    quote_c_style(file->name, NULL, NULL, 0))
+			quote_c_style(file->name, NULL, stdout, 0);
+		else
+			fputs(file->name, stdout);
+		putchar(options->line_termination);
+	}
+}
+
 struct checkdiff_t {
 	struct xdiff_emit_state xm;
 	const char *filename;
@@ -1731,6 +1748,7 @@ int diff_setup_done(struct diff_options *options)
 				      DIFF_FORMAT_CHECKDIFF |
 				      DIFF_FORMAT_NO_OUTPUT))
 		options->output_format &= ~(DIFF_FORMAT_RAW |
+					    DIFF_FORMAT_NUMSTAT |
 					    DIFF_FORMAT_DIFFSTAT |
 					    DIFF_FORMAT_SUMMARY |
 					    DIFF_FORMAT_PATCH);
@@ -1740,6 +1758,7 @@ int diff_setup_done(struct diff_options *options)
 	 * recursive bits for other formats here.
 	 */
 	if (options->output_format & (DIFF_FORMAT_PATCH |
+				      DIFF_FORMAT_NUMSTAT |
 				      DIFF_FORMAT_DIFFSTAT |
 				      DIFF_FORMAT_CHECKDIFF))
 		options->recursive = 1;
@@ -1828,6 +1847,9 @@ int diff_opt_parse(struct diff_options *options, const char **av, int ac)
 	else if (!strcmp(arg, "--patch-with-raw")) {
 		options->output_format |= DIFF_FORMAT_PATCH | DIFF_FORMAT_RAW;
 	}
+	else if (!strcmp(arg, "--numstat")) {
+		options->output_format |= DIFF_FORMAT_NUMSTAT;
+	}
 	else if (!strncmp(arg, "--stat", 6)) {
 		char *end;
 		int width = options->stat_width;
@@ -2602,7 +2624,7 @@ void diff_flush(struct diff_options *options)
 		separator++;
 	}
 
-	if (output_format & DIFF_FORMAT_DIFFSTAT) {
+	if (output_format & (DIFF_FORMAT_DIFFSTAT|DIFF_FORMAT_NUMSTAT)) {
 		struct diffstat_t diffstat;
 
 		memset(&diffstat, 0, sizeof(struct diffstat_t));
@@ -2612,7 +2634,10 @@ void diff_flush(struct diff_options *options)
 			if (check_pair_status(p))
 				diff_flush_stat(p, options, &diffstat);
 		}
-		show_stats(&diffstat, options);
+		if (output_format & DIFF_FORMAT_NUMSTAT)
+			show_numstat(&diffstat, options);
+		if (output_format & DIFF_FORMAT_DIFFSTAT)
+			show_stats(&diffstat, options);
 		separator++;
 	}
 
diff --git a/diff.h b/diff.h
index b48c9914e7..ce3058e437 100644
--- a/diff.h
+++ b/diff.h
@@ -26,20 +26,21 @@ typedef void (*diff_format_fn_t)(struct diff_queue_struct *q,
 
 #define DIFF_FORMAT_RAW		0x0001
 #define DIFF_FORMAT_DIFFSTAT	0x0002
-#define DIFF_FORMAT_SUMMARY	0x0004
-#define DIFF_FORMAT_PATCH	0x0008
+#define DIFF_FORMAT_NUMSTAT	0x0004
+#define DIFF_FORMAT_SUMMARY	0x0008
+#define DIFF_FORMAT_PATCH	0x0010
 
 /* These override all above */
-#define DIFF_FORMAT_NAME	0x0010
-#define DIFF_FORMAT_NAME_STATUS	0x0020
-#define DIFF_FORMAT_CHECKDIFF	0x0040
+#define DIFF_FORMAT_NAME	0x0100
+#define DIFF_FORMAT_NAME_STATUS	0x0200
+#define DIFF_FORMAT_CHECKDIFF	0x0400
 
 /* Same as output_format = 0 but we know that -s flag was given
  * and we should not give default value to output_format.
  */
-#define DIFF_FORMAT_NO_OUTPUT	0x0080
+#define DIFF_FORMAT_NO_OUTPUT	0x0800
 
-#define DIFF_FORMAT_CALLBACK	0x0100
+#define DIFF_FORMAT_CALLBACK	0x1000
 
 struct diff_options {
 	const char *filter;
@@ -170,6 +171,7 @@ extern void diffcore_std_no_resolve(struct diff_options *);
 "  --patch-with-raw\n" \
 "                output both a patch and the diff-raw format.\n" \
 "  --stat        show diffstat instead of patch.\n" \
+"  --numstat     show numeric diffstat instead of patch.\n" \
 "  --patch-with-stat\n" \
 "                output a patch and prepend its diffstat.\n" \
 "  --name-only   show only names of changed files.\n" \