diff --git a/git-am.sh b/git-am.sh
index f1a03c912..f5afe1562 100755
--- a/git-am.sh
+++ b/git-am.sh
@@ -305,7 +305,8 @@ split_patches () {
 		msgnum=
 		;;
 	*)
-		if test -n "$parse_patch" ; then
+		if test -n "$patch_format"
+		then
 			clean_abort "Patch format $patch_format is not supported."
 		else
 			clean_abort "Patch format detection failed."