diff --git a/Documentation/git-grep.txt b/Documentation/git-grep.txt
index ddb6acc025..3109ce8fbe 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-grep.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-grep.txt
@@ -206,8 +206,10 @@ providing this option will cause it to die.
 
 -z::
 --null::
-	Output \0 instead of the character that normally follows a
-	file name.
+	Use \0 as the delimiter for pathnames in the output, and print
+	them verbatim. Without this option, pathnames with "unusual"
+	characters are quoted as explained for the configuration
+	variable core.quotePath (see git-config(1)).
 
 -o::
 --only-matching::
diff --git a/builtin/grep.c b/builtin/grep.c
index 99e2685090..bdf1a4bbc9 100644
--- a/builtin/grep.c
+++ b/builtin/grep.c
@@ -295,6 +295,38 @@ static int grep_cmd_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 	return st;
 }
 
+static void grep_source_name(struct grep_opt *opt, const char *filename,
+			     int tree_name_len, struct strbuf *out)
+{
+	strbuf_reset(out);
+
+	if (opt->null_following_name) {
+		if (opt->relative && opt->prefix_length) {
+			struct strbuf rel_buf = STRBUF_INIT;
+			const char *rel_name =
+				relative_path(filename + tree_name_len,
+					      opt->prefix, &rel_buf);
+
+			if (tree_name_len)
+				strbuf_add(out, filename, tree_name_len);
+
+			strbuf_addstr(out, rel_name);
+			strbuf_release(&rel_buf);
+		} else {
+			strbuf_addstr(out, filename);
+		}
+		return;
+	}
+
+	if (opt->relative && opt->prefix_length)
+		quote_path_relative(filename + tree_name_len, opt->prefix, out);
+	else
+		quote_c_style(filename + tree_name_len, out, NULL, 0);
+
+	if (tree_name_len)
+		strbuf_insert(out, 0, filename, tree_name_len);
+}
+
 static int grep_oid(struct grep_opt *opt, const struct object_id *oid,
 		     const char *filename, int tree_name_len,
 		     const char *path)
@@ -302,13 +334,7 @@ static int grep_oid(struct grep_opt *opt, const struct object_id *oid,
 	struct strbuf pathbuf = STRBUF_INIT;
 	struct grep_source gs;
 
-	if (opt->relative && opt->prefix_length) {
-		quote_path_relative(filename + tree_name_len, opt->prefix, &pathbuf);
-		strbuf_insert(&pathbuf, 0, filename, tree_name_len);
-	} else {
-		strbuf_addstr(&pathbuf, filename);
-	}
-
+	grep_source_name(opt, filename, tree_name_len, &pathbuf);
 	grep_source_init(&gs, GREP_SOURCE_OID, pathbuf.buf, path, oid);
 	strbuf_release(&pathbuf);
 
@@ -334,11 +360,7 @@ static int grep_file(struct grep_opt *opt, const char *filename)
 	struct strbuf buf = STRBUF_INIT;
 	struct grep_source gs;
 
-	if (opt->relative && opt->prefix_length)
-		quote_path_relative(filename, opt->prefix, &buf);
-	else
-		strbuf_addstr(&buf, filename);
-
+	grep_source_name(opt, filename, 0, &buf);
 	grep_source_init(&gs, GREP_SOURCE_FILE, buf.buf, filename, filename);
 	strbuf_release(&buf);
 
diff --git a/t/t7810-grep.sh b/t/t7810-grep.sh
index 7d7b396c23..ab495dba28 100755
--- a/t/t7810-grep.sh
+++ b/t/t7810-grep.sh
@@ -72,6 +72,8 @@ test_expect_success setup '
 	# Still a no-op.
 	function dummy() {}
 	EOF
+	echo unusual >"\"unusual\" pathname" &&
+	echo unusual >"t/nested \"unusual\" pathname" &&
 	git add . &&
 	test_tick &&
 	git commit -m initial
@@ -481,6 +483,48 @@ do
 		git grep --count -h -e b $H -- ab >actual &&
 		test_cmp expected actual
 	'
+
+	test_expect_success "grep $L should quote unusual pathnames" '
+		cat >expected <<-EOF &&
+		${HC}"\"unusual\" pathname":unusual
+		${HC}"t/nested \"unusual\" pathname":unusual
+		EOF
+		git grep unusual $H >actual &&
+		test_cmp expected actual
+	'
+
+	test_expect_success "grep $L in subdir should quote unusual relative pathnames" '
+		cat >expected <<-EOF &&
+		${HC}"nested \"unusual\" pathname":unusual
+		EOF
+		(
+			cd t &&
+			git grep unusual $H
+		) >actual &&
+		test_cmp expected actual
+	'
+
+	test_expect_success "grep -z $L with unusual pathnames" '
+		cat >expected <<-EOF &&
+		${HC}"unusual" pathname:unusual
+		${HC}t/nested "unusual" pathname:unusual
+		EOF
+		git grep -z unusual $H >actual &&
+		tr "\0" ":" <actual >actual-replace-null &&
+		test_cmp expected actual-replace-null
+	'
+
+	test_expect_success "grep -z $L in subdir with unusual relative pathnames" '
+		cat >expected <<-EOF &&
+		${HC}nested "unusual" pathname:unusual
+		EOF
+		(
+			cd t &&
+			git grep -z unusual $H
+		) >actual &&
+		tr "\0" ":" <actual >actual-replace-null &&
+		test_cmp expected actual-replace-null
+	'
 done
 
 cat >expected <<EOF
