diff --git a/pkg/gui/commit_message_panel.go b/pkg/gui/commit_message_panel.go
index 932c1608a..2e3d2edb7 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/commit_message_panel.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/commit_message_panel.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 
 func (gui *Gui) handleCommitConfirm() error {
 	message := strings.TrimSpace(gui.Views.CommitMessage.TextArea.GetContent())
+	gui.State.messageFailedCommit = message
 	if message == "" {
 		return gui.createErrorPanel(gui.Tr.CommitWithoutMessageErr)
 	}
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@ func (gui *Gui) handleCommitConfirm() error {
 	_ = gui.returnFromContext()
 	return gui.withGpgHandling(cmdObj, gui.Tr.CommittingStatus, func() error {
 		gui.Views.CommitMessage.ClearTextArea()
+		gui.State.messageFailedCommit = ""
 		return nil
 	})
 }
diff --git a/pkg/gui/files_panel.go b/pkg/gui/files_panel.go
index 094060032..ea897f085 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/files_panel.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/files_panel.go
@@ -386,18 +386,24 @@ func (gui *Gui) handleCommitPress() error {
 		return gui.promptToStageAllAndRetry(gui.handleCommitPress)
 	}
 
-	commitPrefixConfig := gui.commitPrefixConfigForRepo()
-	if commitPrefixConfig != nil {
-		prefixPattern := commitPrefixConfig.Pattern
-		prefixReplace := commitPrefixConfig.Replace
-		rgx, err := regexp.Compile(prefixPattern)
-		if err != nil {
-			return gui.createErrorPanel(fmt.Sprintf("%s: %s", gui.Tr.LcCommitPrefixPatternError, err.Error()))
-		}
-		prefix := rgx.ReplaceAllString(gui.getCheckedOutBranch().Name, prefixReplace)
+	if len(gui.State.messageFailedCommit) > 0 {
 		gui.Views.CommitMessage.ClearTextArea()
-		gui.Views.CommitMessage.TextArea.TypeString(prefix)
-		gui.render()
+		gui.Views.CommitMessage.TextArea.TypeString(gui.State.messageFailedCommit)
+		gui.Views.CommitMessage.RenderTextArea()
+	} else {
+		commitPrefixConfig := gui.commitPrefixConfigForRepo()
+		if commitPrefixConfig != nil {
+			prefixPattern := commitPrefixConfig.Pattern
+			prefixReplace := commitPrefixConfig.Replace
+			rgx, err := regexp.Compile(prefixPattern)
+			if err != nil {
+				return gui.createErrorPanel(fmt.Sprintf("%s: %s", gui.Tr.LcCommitPrefixPatternError, err.Error()))
+			}
+			prefix := rgx.ReplaceAllString(gui.getCheckedOutBranch().Name, prefixReplace)
+			gui.Views.CommitMessage.ClearTextArea()
+			gui.Views.CommitMessage.TextArea.TypeString(prefix)
+			gui.Views.CommitMessage.RenderTextArea()
+		}
 	}
 
 	gui.g.Update(func(g *gocui.Gui) error {
diff --git a/pkg/gui/gui.go b/pkg/gui/gui.go
index 9b4279f29..08960ff16 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/gui.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/gui.go
@@ -346,6 +346,9 @@ type guiState struct {
 
 	// for displaying suggestions while typing in a file name
 	FilesTrie *patricia.Trie
+
+	// this is the message of the last failed commit attempt
+	messageFailedCommit string
 }
 
 // reuseState determines if we pull the repo state from our repo state map or