diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 1682273c1..738b24419 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -1174,7 +1174,9 @@ int git_config_set_multivar(const char *key, const char *value,
 static int section_name_match (const char *buf, const char *name)
 {
 	int i = 0, j = 0, dot = 0;
-	for (; buf[i] && buf[i] != ']'; i++) {
+	if (buf[i] != '[')
+		return 0;
+	for (i = 1; buf[i] && buf[i] != ']'; i++) {
 		if (!dot && isspace(buf[i])) {
 			dot = 1;
 			if (name[j++] != '.')
@@ -1195,7 +1197,17 @@ static int section_name_match (const char *buf, const char *name)
 		if (buf[i] != name[j++])
 			break;
 	}
-	return (buf[i] == ']' && name[j] == 0);
+	if (buf[i] == ']' && name[j] == 0) {
+		/*
+		 * We match, now just find the right length offset by
+		 * gobbling up any whitespace after it, as well
+		 */
+		i++;
+		for (; buf[i] && isspace(buf[i]); i++)
+			; /* do nothing */
+		return i;
+	}
+	return 0;
 }
 
 /* if new_name == NULL, the section is removed instead */
@@ -1225,11 +1237,13 @@ int git_config_rename_section(const char *old_name, const char *new_name)
 	while (fgets(buf, sizeof(buf), config_file)) {
 		int i;
 		int length;
+		char *output = buf;
 		for (i = 0; buf[i] && isspace(buf[i]); i++)
 			; /* do nothing */
 		if (buf[i] == '[') {
 			/* it's a section */
-			if (section_name_match (&buf[i+1], old_name)) {
+			int offset = section_name_match(&buf[i], old_name);
+			if (offset > 0) {
 				ret++;
 				if (new_name == NULL) {
 					remove = 1;
@@ -1240,14 +1254,29 @@ int git_config_rename_section(const char *old_name, const char *new_name)
 					ret = write_error(lock->filename);
 					goto out;
 				}
-				continue;
+				/*
+				 * We wrote out the new section, with
+				 * a newline, now skip the old
+				 * section's length
+				 */
+				output += offset + i;
+				if (strlen(output) > 0) {
+					/*
+					 * More content means there's
+					 * a declaration to put on the
+					 * next line; indent with a
+					 * tab
+					 */
+					output -= 1;
+					output[0] = '\t';
+				}
 			}
 			remove = 0;
 		}
 		if (remove)
 			continue;
-		length = strlen(buf);
-		if (write_in_full(out_fd, buf, length) != length) {
+		length = strlen(output);
+		if (write_in_full(out_fd, output, length) != length) {
 			ret = write_error(lock->filename);
 			goto out;
 		}
diff --git a/t/t1300-repo-config.sh b/t/t1300-repo-config.sh
index 43ea28324..8c43dcde8 100755
--- a/t/t1300-repo-config.sh
+++ b/t/t1300-repo-config.sh
@@ -459,6 +459,28 @@ EOF
 
 test_expect_success "rename succeeded" "test_cmp expect .git/config"
 
+cat >> .git/config << EOF
+[branch "vier"] z = 1
+EOF
+
+test_expect_success "rename a section with a var on the same line" \
+	'git config --rename-section branch.vier branch.zwei'
+
+cat > expect << EOF
+# Hallo
+	#Bello
+[branch "zwei"]
+	x = 1
+[branch "zwei"]
+	y = 1
+[branch "drei"]
+weird
+[branch "zwei"]
+	z = 1
+EOF
+
+test_expect_success "rename succeeded" "test_cmp expect .git/config"
+
 cat >> .git/config << EOF
   [branch "zwei"] a = 1 [branch "vier"]
 EOF