diff --git a/commit.c b/commit.c
index ae7f2b10f4..b6ffd623c8 100644
--- a/commit.c
+++ b/commit.c
@@ -1660,3 +1660,25 @@ void print_commit_list(struct commit_list *list,
 		printf(format, sha1_to_hex(list->item->object.sha1));
 	}
 }
+
+const char *find_commit_header(const char *msg, const char *key, size_t *out_len)
+{
+	int key_len = strlen(key);
+	const char *line = msg;
+
+	while (line) {
+		const char *eol = strchrnul(line, '\n');
+
+		if (line == eol)
+			return NULL;
+
+		if (eol - line > key_len &&
+		    !strncmp(line, key, key_len) &&
+		    line[key_len] == ' ') {
+			*out_len = eol - line - key_len - 1;
+			return line + key_len + 1;
+		}
+		line = *eol ? eol + 1 : NULL;
+	}
+	return NULL;
+}
diff --git a/commit.h b/commit.h
index a8cbf52f15..12f4fe10c1 100644
--- a/commit.h
+++ b/commit.h
@@ -313,6 +313,17 @@ extern struct commit_extra_header *read_commit_extra_headers(struct commit *, co
 
 extern void free_commit_extra_headers(struct commit_extra_header *extra);
 
+/*
+ * Search the commit object contents given by "msg" for the header "key".
+ * Returns a pointer to the start of the header contents, or NULL. The length
+ * of the header, up to the first newline, is returned via out_len.
+ *
+ * Note that some headers (like mergetag) may be multi-line. It is the caller's
+ * responsibility to parse further in this case!
+ */
+extern const char *find_commit_header(const char *msg, const char *key,
+				      size_t *out_len);
+
 typedef void (*each_mergetag_fn)(struct commit *commit, struct commit_extra_header *extra,
 				 void *cb_data);
 
diff --git a/pretty.c b/pretty.c
index 3a1da6fd32..3a705576f3 100644
--- a/pretty.c
+++ b/pretty.c
@@ -547,31 +547,11 @@ static void add_merge_info(const struct pretty_print_context *pp,
 	strbuf_addch(sb, '\n');
 }
 
-static char *get_header(const struct commit *commit, const char *msg,
-			const char *key)
+static char *get_header(const char *msg, const char *key)
 {
-	int key_len = strlen(key);
-	const char *line = msg;
-
-	while (line) {
-		const char *eol = strchrnul(line, '\n'), *next;
-
-		if (line == eol)
-			return NULL;
-		if (!*eol) {
-			warning("malformed commit (header is missing newline): %s",
-				sha1_to_hex(commit->object.sha1));
-			next = NULL;
-		} else
-			next = eol + 1;
-		if (eol - line > key_len &&
-		    !strncmp(line, key, key_len) &&
-		    line[key_len] == ' ') {
-			return xmemdupz(line + key_len + 1, eol - line - key_len - 1);
-		}
-		line = next;
-	}
-	return NULL;
+	size_t len;
+	const char *v = find_commit_header(msg, key, &len);
+	return v ? xmemdupz(v, len) : NULL;
 }
 
 static char *replace_encoding_header(char *buf, const char *encoding)
@@ -617,11 +597,10 @@ const char *logmsg_reencode(const struct commit *commit,
 
 	if (!output_encoding || !*output_encoding) {
 		if (commit_encoding)
-			*commit_encoding =
-				get_header(commit, msg, "encoding");
+			*commit_encoding = get_header(msg, "encoding");
 		return msg;
 	}
-	encoding = get_header(commit, msg, "encoding");
+	encoding = get_header(msg, "encoding");
 	if (commit_encoding)
 		*commit_encoding = encoding;
 	use_encoding = encoding ? encoding : utf8;