If the tree contains a sub-directory then git-grep(1) output contains a colon character instead of a path separator: $ git grep malloc v2.9.3:t v2.9.3:t:test-lib.sh: setup_malloc_check () { $ git show v2.9.3:t:test-lib.sh fatal: Path 't:test-lib.sh' does not exist in 'v2.9.3' This patch attempts to use the correct delimiter: $ git grep malloc v2.9.3:t v2.9.3:t/test-lib.sh: setup_malloc_check () { $ git show v2.9.3:t/test-lib.sh (success) This patch does not cope with @{1979-02-26 18:30:00} syntax and treats it as a path because it contains colons. Signed-off-by: Stefan Hajnoczi <stefanha@xxxxxxxxxx> --- builtin/grep.c | 3 ++- 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/builtin/grep.c b/builtin/grep.c index 3643d8a..06f8b47 100644 --- a/builtin/grep.c +++ b/builtin/grep.c @@ -493,7 +493,8 @@ static int grep_object(struct grep_opt *opt, const struct pathspec *pathspec, /* Add a delimiter if there isn't one already */ if (name[len - 1] != '/' && name[len - 1] != ':') { - strbuf_addch(&base, ':'); + /* rev: or rev:path/ */ + strbuf_addch(&base, strchr(name, ':') ? '/' : ':'); } } init_tree_desc(&tree, data, size); -- 2.9.3