diff --git a/trailer.c b/trailer.c
index dc15d850b4..c72ae68709 100644
--- a/trailer.c
+++ b/trailer.c
@@ -144,38 +144,6 @@ static char last_non_space_char(const char *s)
 	return '\0';
 }
 
-static void print_tok_val(struct strbuf *out, const char *tok, const char *val)
-{
-	char c;
-
-	if (!tok) {
-		strbuf_addf(out, "%s\n", val);
-		return;
-	}
-
-	c = last_non_space_char(tok);
-	if (!c)
-		return;
-	if (strchr(separators, c))
-		strbuf_addf(out, "%s%s\n", tok, val);
-	else
-		strbuf_addf(out, "%s%c %s\n", tok, separators[0], val);
-}
-
-void format_trailers(const struct process_trailer_options *opts,
-		     struct list_head *trailers,
-		     struct strbuf *out)
-{
-	struct list_head *pos;
-	struct trailer_item *item;
-	list_for_each(pos, trailers) {
-		item = list_entry(pos, struct trailer_item, list);
-		if ((!opts->trim_empty || strlen(item->value) > 0) &&
-		    (!opts->only_trailers || item->token))
-			print_tok_val(out, item->token, item->value);
-	}
-}
-
 static struct trailer_item *trailer_from_arg(struct arg_item *arg_tok)
 {
 	struct trailer_item *new_item = xcalloc(1, sizeof(*new_item));
@@ -1084,26 +1052,32 @@ void trailer_info_release(struct trailer_info *info)
 	free(info->trailers);
 }
 
-static void format_trailer_info(const struct process_trailer_options *opts,
-				const struct trailer_info *info,
-				struct strbuf *out)
+void format_trailers(const struct process_trailer_options *opts,
+		     struct list_head *trailers,
+		     struct strbuf *out)
 {
 	size_t origlen = out->len;
-	size_t i;
+	struct list_head *pos;
+	struct trailer_item *item;
 
-	for (i = 0; i < info->trailer_nr; i++) {
-		char *trailer = info->trailers[i];
-		ssize_t separator_pos = find_separator(trailer, separators);
-
-		if (separator_pos >= 1) {
+	list_for_each(pos, trailers) {
+		item = list_entry(pos, struct trailer_item, list);
+		if (item->token) {
 			struct strbuf tok = STRBUF_INIT;
 			struct strbuf val = STRBUF_INIT;
+			strbuf_addstr(&tok, item->token);
+			strbuf_addstr(&val, item->value);
+
+			/*
+			 * Skip key/value pairs where the value was empty. This
+			 * can happen from trailers specified without a
+			 * separator, like `--trailer "Reviewed-by"` (no
+			 * corresponding value).
+			 */
+			if (opts->trim_empty && !strlen(item->value))
+				continue;
 
-			parse_trailer(&tok, &val, NULL, trailer, separator_pos);
 			if (!opts->filter || opts->filter(&tok, opts->filter_data)) {
-				if (opts->unfold)
-					unfold_value(&val);
-
 				if (opts->separator && out->len != origlen)
 					strbuf_addbuf(out, opts->separator);
 				if (!opts->value_only)
@@ -1111,8 +1085,11 @@ static void format_trailer_info(const struct process_trailer_options *opts,
 				if (!opts->key_only && !opts->value_only) {
 					if (opts->key_value_separator)
 						strbuf_addbuf(out, opts->key_value_separator);
-					else
-						strbuf_addstr(out, ": ");
+					else {
+						char c = last_non_space_char(tok.buf);
+						if (c && !strchr(separators, c))
+							strbuf_addf(out, "%c ", separators[0]);
+					}
 				}
 				if (!opts->key_only)
 					strbuf_addbuf(out, &val);
@@ -1126,13 +1103,13 @@ static void format_trailer_info(const struct process_trailer_options *opts,
 			if (opts->separator && out->len != origlen) {
 				strbuf_addbuf(out, opts->separator);
 			}
-			strbuf_addstr(out, trailer);
-			if (opts->separator) {
+			strbuf_addstr(out, item->value);
+			if (opts->separator)
 				strbuf_rtrim(out);
-			}
+			else
+				strbuf_addch(out, '\n');
 		}
 	}
-
 }
 
 void format_trailers_from_commit(const struct process_trailer_options *opts,
@@ -1151,7 +1128,7 @@ void format_trailers_from_commit(const struct process_trailer_options *opts,
 		strbuf_add(out, msg + info.trailer_block_start,
 			   info.trailer_block_end - info.trailer_block_start);
 	} else
-		format_trailer_info(opts, &info, out);
+		format_trailers(opts, &trailer_objects, out);
 
 	free_trailers(&trailer_objects);
 	trailer_info_release(&info);
diff --git a/trailer.h b/trailer.h
index 1d106b6dd4..9f42aa7599 100644
--- a/trailer.h
+++ b/trailer.h
@@ -107,17 +107,10 @@ void format_trailers(const struct process_trailer_options *,
 void free_trailers(struct list_head *);
 
 /*
- * Format the trailers from the commit msg "msg" into the strbuf "out".
- * Note two caveats about "opts":
- *
- *   - this is primarily a helper for pretty.c, and not
- *     all of the flags are supported.
- *
- *   - this differs from process_trailers slightly in that we always format
- *     only the trailer block itself, even if the "only_trailers" option is not
- *     set.
+ * Convenience function to format the trailers from the commit msg "msg" into
+ * the strbuf "out". Reuses format_trailers() internally.
  */
-void format_trailers_from_commit(const struct process_trailer_options *opts,
+void format_trailers_from_commit(const struct process_trailer_options *,
 				 const char *msg,
 				 struct strbuf *out);