diff --git a/Documentation/git-rebase.txt b/Documentation/git-rebase.txt
index c83be7ffc20..1d19542d79f 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-rebase.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-rebase.txt
@@ -259,10 +259,13 @@ See also INCOMPATIBLE OPTIONS below.
 	unchanged as a result.
 
 --keep-empty::
-	Keep the commits that do not change anything from its
-	parents in the result.
+	No-op.  Rebasing commits that started empty (had no change
+	relative to their parent) used to fail and this option would
+	override that behavior, allowing commits with empty changes to
+	be rebased.  Now commits with no changes do not cause rebasing
+	to halt.
 +
-See also INCOMPATIBLE OPTIONS below.
+See also BEHAVIORAL DIFFERENCES and INCOMPATIBLE OPTIONS below.
 
 --allow-empty-message::
 	No-op.  Rebasing commits with an empty message used to fail
@@ -577,15 +580,14 @@ There are some subtle differences how the backends behave.
 Empty commits
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
-The am backend drops any "empty" commits, regardless of whether the
-commit started empty (had no changes relative to its parent to
-start with) or ended empty (all changes were already applied
-upstream in other commits).
+The am backend unfortunately drops intentionally empty commits, i.e.
+commits that started empty, though these are rare in practice.  It
+also drops commits that become empty and has no option for controlling
+this behavior.
 
-The interactive backend drops commits by default that
-started empty and halts if it hits a commit that ended up empty.
-The `--keep-empty` option exists for the interactive backend to allow
-it to keep commits that started empty.
+The interactive backend keeps intentionally empty commits.
+Unfortunately, it always halts whenever it runs across a commit that
+becomes empty, even when the rebase is not explicitly interactive.
 
 Directory rename detection
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
diff --git a/builtin/rebase.c b/builtin/rebase.c
index faa4e0d4065..537b3241ce3 100644
--- a/builtin/rebase.c
+++ b/builtin/rebase.c
@@ -77,7 +77,6 @@ struct rebase_options {
 	const char *action;
 	int signoff;
 	int allow_rerere_autoupdate;
-	int keep_empty;
 	int autosquash;
 	char *gpg_sign_opt;
 	int autostash;
@@ -375,7 +374,6 @@ static int run_rebase_interactive(struct rebase_options *opts,
 
 	git_config_get_bool("rebase.abbreviatecommands", &abbreviate_commands);
 
-	flags |= opts->keep_empty ? TODO_LIST_KEEP_EMPTY : 0;
 	flags |= abbreviate_commands ? TODO_LIST_ABBREVIATE_CMDS : 0;
 	flags |= opts->rebase_merges ? TODO_LIST_REBASE_MERGES : 0;
 	flags |= opts->rebase_cousins > 0 ? TODO_LIST_REBASE_COUSINS : 0;
@@ -439,6 +437,17 @@ static int run_rebase_interactive(struct rebase_options *opts,
 	return ret;
 }
 
+static int parse_opt_keep_empty(const struct option *opt, const char *arg,
+				int unset)
+{
+	struct rebase_options *opts = opt->value;
+
+	BUG_ON_OPT_ARG(arg);
+
+	opts->type = REBASE_INTERACTIVE;
+	return 0;
+}
+
 static const char * const builtin_rebase_interactive_usage[] = {
 	N_("git rebase--interactive [<options>]"),
 	NULL
@@ -452,7 +461,10 @@ int cmd_rebase__interactive(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	struct option options[] = {
 		OPT_NEGBIT(0, "ff", &opts.flags, N_("allow fast-forward"),
 			   REBASE_FORCE),
-		OPT_BOOL(0, "keep-empty", &opts.keep_empty, N_("keep empty commits")),
+		{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 'k', "keep-empty", &options, NULL,
+			N_("(DEPRECATED) keep empty commits"),
+			PARSE_OPT_NOARG | PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN,
+			parse_opt_keep_empty },
 		OPT_BOOL_F(0, "allow-empty-message", &opts.allow_empty_message,
 			   N_("allow commits with empty messages"),
 			   PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),
@@ -1145,7 +1157,6 @@ static int run_specific_rebase(struct rebase_options *opts, enum action action)
 		opts->allow_rerere_autoupdate ?
 			opts->allow_rerere_autoupdate == RERERE_AUTOUPDATE ?
 			"--rerere-autoupdate" : "--no-rerere-autoupdate" : "");
-	add_var(&script_snippet, "keep_empty", opts->keep_empty ? "yes" : "");
 	add_var(&script_snippet, "autosquash", opts->autosquash ? "t" : "");
 	add_var(&script_snippet, "gpg_sign_opt", opts->gpg_sign_opt);
 	add_var(&script_snippet, "cmd", opts->cmd);
@@ -1483,8 +1494,10 @@ int cmd_rebase(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 				 "ignoring them"),
 			      REBASE_PRESERVE_MERGES, PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),
 		OPT_RERERE_AUTOUPDATE(&options.allow_rerere_autoupdate),
-		OPT_BOOL('k', "keep-empty", &options.keep_empty,
-			 N_("preserve empty commits during rebase")),
+		{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 'k', "keep-empty", &options, NULL,
+			N_("(DEPRECATED) keep empty commits"),
+			PARSE_OPT_NOARG | PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN,
+			parse_opt_keep_empty },
 		OPT_BOOL(0, "autosquash", &options.autosquash,
 			 N_("move commits that begin with "
 			    "squash!/fixup! under -i")),
@@ -1747,9 +1760,6 @@ int cmd_rebase(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (!(options.flags & REBASE_NO_QUIET))
 		argv_array_push(&options.git_am_opts, "-q");
 
-	if (options.keep_empty)
-		imply_interactive(&options, "--keep-empty");
-
 	if (gpg_sign) {
 		free(options.gpg_sign_opt);
 		options.gpg_sign_opt = xstrfmt("-S%s", gpg_sign);
diff --git a/rebase-interactive.c b/rebase-interactive.c
index aa18ae82b72..7e7b4061bfb 100644
--- a/rebase-interactive.c
+++ b/rebase-interactive.c
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ static enum missing_commit_check_level get_missing_commit_check_level(void)
 	return MISSING_COMMIT_CHECK_IGNORE;
 }
 
-void append_todo_help(unsigned keep_empty, int command_count,
+void append_todo_help(int command_count,
 		      const char *shortrevisions, const char *shortonto,
 		      struct strbuf *buf)
 {
@@ -80,11 +80,6 @@ void append_todo_help(unsigned keep_empty, int command_count,
 			"the rebase will be aborted.\n\n");
 
 	strbuf_add_commented_lines(buf, msg, strlen(msg));
-
-	if (!keep_empty) {
-		msg = _("Note that empty commits are commented out");
-		strbuf_add_commented_lines(buf, msg, strlen(msg));
-	}
 }
 
 int edit_todo_list(struct repository *r, struct todo_list *todo_list,
diff --git a/rebase-interactive.h b/rebase-interactive.h
index 44dbb06311a..05354ca3417 100644
--- a/rebase-interactive.h
+++ b/rebase-interactive.h
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ struct strbuf;
 struct repository;
 struct todo_list;
 
-void append_todo_help(unsigned keep_empty, int command_count,
+void append_todo_help(int command_count,
 		      const char *shortrevisions, const char *shortonto,
 		      struct strbuf *buf);
 int edit_todo_list(struct repository *r, struct todo_list *todo_list,
diff --git a/sequencer.c b/sequencer.c
index b9dbf1adb07..c21fc202b1c 100644
--- a/sequencer.c
+++ b/sequencer.c
@@ -1489,7 +1489,7 @@ static int allow_empty(struct repository *r,
 		       struct replay_opts *opts,
 		       struct commit *commit)
 {
-	int index_unchanged, empty_commit;
+	int index_unchanged, originally_empty;
 
 	/*
 	 * Three cases:
@@ -1513,10 +1513,10 @@ static int allow_empty(struct repository *r,
 	if (opts->keep_redundant_commits)
 		return 1;
 
-	empty_commit = is_original_commit_empty(commit);
-	if (empty_commit < 0)
-		return empty_commit;
-	if (!empty_commit)
+	originally_empty = is_original_commit_empty(commit);
+	if (originally_empty < 0)
+		return originally_empty;
+	if (!originally_empty)
 		return 0;
 	else
 		return 1;
@@ -4566,7 +4566,6 @@ static int make_script_with_merges(struct pretty_print_context *pp,
 				   struct rev_info *revs, struct strbuf *out,
 				   unsigned flags)
 {
-	int keep_empty = flags & TODO_LIST_KEEP_EMPTY;
 	int rebase_cousins = flags & TODO_LIST_REBASE_COUSINS;
 	int root_with_onto = flags & TODO_LIST_ROOT_WITH_ONTO;
 	struct strbuf buf = STRBUF_INIT, oneline = STRBUF_INIT;
@@ -4629,8 +4628,6 @@ static int make_script_with_merges(struct pretty_print_context *pp,
 		if (!to_merge) {
 			/* non-merge commit: easy case */
 			strbuf_reset(&buf);
-			if (!keep_empty && is_empty)
-				strbuf_addf(&buf, "%c ", comment_line_char);
 			strbuf_addf(&buf, "%s %s %s", cmd_pick,
 				    oid_to_hex(&commit->object.oid),
 				    oneline.buf);
@@ -4797,7 +4794,6 @@ int sequencer_make_script(struct repository *r, struct strbuf *out, int argc,
 	struct pretty_print_context pp = {0};
 	struct rev_info revs;
 	struct commit *commit;
-	int keep_empty = flags & TODO_LIST_KEEP_EMPTY;
 	const char *insn = flags & TODO_LIST_ABBREVIATE_CMDS ? "p" : "pick";
 	int rebase_merges = flags & TODO_LIST_REBASE_MERGES;
 
@@ -4833,12 +4829,10 @@ int sequencer_make_script(struct repository *r, struct strbuf *out, int argc,
 		return make_script_with_merges(&pp, &revs, out, flags);
 
 	while ((commit = get_revision(&revs))) {
-		int is_empty  = is_original_commit_empty(commit);
+		int is_empty = is_original_commit_empty(commit);
 
 		if (!is_empty && (commit->object.flags & PATCHSAME))
 			continue;
-		if (!keep_empty && is_empty)
-			strbuf_addf(out, "%c ", comment_line_char);
 		strbuf_addf(out, "%s %s ", insn,
 			    oid_to_hex(&commit->object.oid));
 		pretty_print_commit(&pp, commit, out);
@@ -4975,7 +4969,7 @@ int todo_list_write_to_file(struct repository *r, struct todo_list *todo_list,
 
 	todo_list_to_strbuf(r, todo_list, &buf, num, flags);
 	if (flags & TODO_LIST_APPEND_TODO_HELP)
-		append_todo_help(flags & TODO_LIST_KEEP_EMPTY, count_commands(todo_list),
+		append_todo_help(count_commands(todo_list),
 				 shortrevisions, shortonto, &buf);
 
 	res = write_message(buf.buf, buf.len, file, 0);
diff --git a/sequencer.h b/sequencer.h
index 9f9ae291e3c..c165e0ff254 100644
--- a/sequencer.h
+++ b/sequencer.h
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ int sequencer_rollback(struct repository *repo, struct replay_opts *opts);
 int sequencer_skip(struct repository *repo, struct replay_opts *opts);
 int sequencer_remove_state(struct replay_opts *opts);
 
-#define TODO_LIST_KEEP_EMPTY (1U << 0)
+/* #define TODO_LIST_KEEP_EMPTY (1U << 0) */ /* No longer used */
 #define TODO_LIST_SHORTEN_IDS (1U << 1)
 #define TODO_LIST_ABBREVIATE_CMDS (1U << 2)
 #define TODO_LIST_REBASE_MERGES (1U << 3)
diff --git a/t/t3421-rebase-topology-linear.sh b/t/t3421-rebase-topology-linear.sh
index 325072b0a33..57334dca7e4 100755
--- a/t/t3421-rebase-topology-linear.sh
+++ b/t/t3421-rebase-topology-linear.sh
@@ -205,17 +205,17 @@ test_expect_success 'setup of linear history for empty commit tests' '
 test_run_rebase () {
 	result=$1
 	shift
-	test_expect_$result "rebase $* drops empty commit" "
+	test_expect_$result "rebase $* keeps begin-empty commits" "
 		reset_rebase &&
-		git rebase $* c l &&
-		test_cmp_rev c HEAD~2 &&
-		test_linear_range 'd l' c..
+		git rebase $* j l &&
+		test_cmp_rev c HEAD~4 &&
+		test_linear_range 'j d k l' c..
 	"
 }
-test_run_rebase success ''
+test_run_rebase failure ''
 test_run_rebase success -m
 test_run_rebase success -i
-test_have_prereq !REBASE_P || test_run_rebase success -p
+test_have_prereq !REBASE_P || test_run_rebase failure -p
 
 test_run_rebase () {
 	result=$1
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ test_run_rebase () {
 test_run_rebase success ''
 test_run_rebase success -m
 test_run_rebase success -i
-test_have_prereq !REBASE_P || test_run_rebase failure -p
+test_have_prereq !REBASE_P || test_run_rebase success -p
 
 test_run_rebase () {
 	result=$1
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ test_run_rebase () {
 test_run_rebase success ''
 test_run_rebase success -m
 test_run_rebase success -i
-test_have_prereq !REBASE_P || test_run_rebase failure -p
+test_have_prereq !REBASE_P || test_run_rebase success -p
 test_run_rebase success --rebase-merges
 
 #       m
diff --git a/t/t3424-rebase-empty.sh b/t/t3424-rebase-empty.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..3b716e980e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/t3424-rebase-empty.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+test_description='git rebase of commits that start or become empty'
+
+. ./test-lib.sh
+
+test_expect_success 'setup test repository' '
+	test_write_lines 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >numbers &&
+	test_write_lines A B C D E F G H I J >letters &&
+	git add numbers letters &&
+	git commit -m A &&
+
+	git branch upstream &&
+	git branch localmods &&
+
+	git checkout upstream &&
+	test_write_lines A B C D E >letters &&
+	git add letters &&
+	git commit -m B &&
+
+	test_write_lines 1 2 3 4 five 6 7 8 9 ten >numbers &&
+	git add numbers &&
+	git commit -m C &&
+
+	git checkout localmods &&
+	test_write_lines 1 2 3 4 five 6 7 8 9 10 >numbers &&
+	git add numbers &&
+	git commit -m C2 &&
+
+	git commit --allow-empty -m D &&
+
+	test_write_lines A B C D E >letters &&
+	git add letters &&
+	git commit -m "Five letters ought to be enough for anybody"
+'
+
+test_expect_failure 'rebase (am-backend) with a variety of empty commits' '
+	test_when_finished "git rebase --abort" &&
+	git checkout -B testing localmods &&
+	# rebase (--am) should not drop commits that start empty
+	git rebase upstream &&
+
+	test_write_lines D C B A >expect &&
+	git log --format=%s >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_failure 'rebase --merge with a variety of empty commits' '
+	test_when_finished "git rebase --abort" &&
+	git checkout -B testing localmods &&
+	# rebase --merge should not halt on the commit that becomes empty
+	git rebase --merge upstream &&
+
+	test_write_lines D C B A >expect &&
+	git log --format=%s >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'rebase --interactive with a variety of empty commits' '
+	git checkout -B testing localmods &&
+	test_must_fail git rebase --interactive upstream &&
+
+	git rebase --skip &&
+
+	test_write_lines D C B A >expect &&
+	git log --format=%s >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_done
diff --git a/t/t3427-rebase-subtree.sh b/t/t3427-rebase-subtree.sh
index bec48e6a1f9..8dceef61cff 100755
--- a/t/t3427-rebase-subtree.sh
+++ b/t/t3427-rebase-subtree.sh
@@ -85,23 +85,23 @@ test_expect_failure REBASE_P 'Rebase -Xsubtree --keep-empty --preserve-merges --
 	verbose test "$(commit_message HEAD)" = "Empty commit"
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'Rebase -Xsubtree --keep-empty --onto commit' '
+test_expect_success 'Rebase -Xsubtree --onto commit' '
 	reset_rebase &&
 	git checkout -b rebase-onto to-rebase &&
-	test_must_fail git rebase -Xsubtree=files_subtree --keep-empty --onto files-master master &&
+	test_must_fail git rebase -Xsubtree=files_subtree --onto files-master master &&
 	: first pick results in no changes &&
-	git rebase --continue &&
+	git rebase --skip &&
 	verbose test "$(commit_message HEAD~2)" = "master4" &&
 	verbose test "$(commit_message HEAD~)" = "files_subtree/master5" &&
 	verbose test "$(commit_message HEAD)" = "Empty commit"
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'Rebase -Xsubtree --keep-empty --rebase-merges --onto commit' '
+test_expect_success 'Rebase -Xsubtree --rebase-merges --onto commit' '
 	reset_rebase &&
 	git checkout -b rebase-merges-onto to-rebase &&
-	test_must_fail git rebase -Xsubtree=files_subtree --keep-empty --rebase-merges --onto files-master --root &&
+	test_must_fail git rebase -Xsubtree=files_subtree --rebase-merges --onto files-master --root &&
 	: first pick results in no changes &&
-	git rebase --continue &&
+	git rebase --skip &&
 	verbose test "$(commit_message HEAD~2)" = "master4" &&
 	verbose test "$(commit_message HEAD~)" = "files_subtree/master5" &&
 	verbose test "$(commit_message HEAD)" = "Empty commit"
