diff --git a/gitweb/gitweb.perl b/gitweb/gitweb.perl
index 17d8efb29..5c7011a37 100755
--- a/gitweb/gitweb.perl
+++ b/gitweb/gitweb.perl
@@ -5040,7 +5040,8 @@ sub git_feed {
 
 		# get list of changed files
 		open my $fd, "-|", git_cmd(), "diff-tree", '-r', @diff_opts,
-			$co{'parent'}, $co{'id'}, "--", (defined $file_name ? $file_name : ())
+			$co{'parent'} || "--root",
+			$co{'id'}, "--", (defined $file_name ? $file_name : ())
 			or next;
 		my @difftree = map { chomp; $_ } <$fd>;
 		close $fd