diff --git a/combine-diff.c b/combine-diff.c
index 6a9f3683c5..9aa099b061 100644
--- a/combine-diff.c
+++ b/combine-diff.c
@@ -618,8 +618,8 @@ static void reuse_combine_diff(struct sline *sline, unsigned long cnt,
 	sline->p_lno[i] = sline->p_lno[j];
 }
 
-int show_combined_diff(struct combine_diff_path *elem, int num_parent,
-		       int dense, const char *header)
+static int show_patch_diff(struct combine_diff_path *elem, int num_parent,
+			   int dense, const char *header)
 {
 	unsigned long size, cnt, lno;
 	char *result, *cp, *ep;
@@ -776,8 +776,89 @@ int show_combined_diff(struct combine_diff_path *elem, int num_parent,
 	return shown_header;
 }
 
-int diff_tree_combined_merge(const unsigned char *sha1,
-			     const char *header, int dense)
+#define COLONS "::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::"
+
+static void show_raw_diff(struct combine_diff_path *p, int num_parent, const char *header, struct diff_options *opt)
+{
+	int i, offset, mod_type = 'A';
+	const char *prefix;
+	int line_termination, inter_name_termination;
+
+	line_termination = opt->line_termination;
+	inter_name_termination = '\t';
+	if (!line_termination)
+		inter_name_termination = 0;
+
+	if (header)
+		puts(header);
+
+	for (i = 0; i < num_parent; i++) {
+		if (p->parent[i].mode)
+			mod_type = 'M';
+	}
+	if (!p->mode)
+		mod_type = 'D';
+
+	if (opt->output_format == DIFF_FORMAT_RAW) {
+		offset = strlen(COLONS) - num_parent;
+		if (offset < 0)
+			offset = 0;
+		prefix = COLONS + offset;
+
+		/* Show the modes */
+		for (i = 0; i < num_parent; i++) {
+			printf("%s%06o", prefix, p->parent[i].mode);
+			prefix = " ";
+		}
+		printf("%s%06o", prefix, p->mode);
+
+		/* Show sha1's */
+		for (i = 0; i < num_parent; i++)
+			printf(" %s", diff_unique_abbrev(p->parent[i].sha1,
+							 opt->abbrev));
+		printf(" %s ", diff_unique_abbrev(p->sha1, opt->abbrev));
+	}
+
+	if (opt->output_format == DIFF_FORMAT_RAW ||
+	    opt->output_format == DIFF_FORMAT_NAME_STATUS)
+		printf("%c%c", mod_type, inter_name_termination);
+
+	if (line_termination) {
+		if (quote_c_style(p->path, NULL, NULL, 0))
+			quote_c_style(p->path, NULL, stdout, 0);
+		else
+			printf("%s", p->path);
+		putchar(line_termination);
+	}
+	else {
+		printf("%s%c", p->path, line_termination);
+	}
+}
+
+int show_combined_diff(struct combine_diff_path *p,
+		       int num_parent,
+		       int dense,
+		       const char *header,
+		       struct diff_options *opt)
+{
+	if (!p->len)
+		return 0;
+	switch (opt->output_format) {
+	case DIFF_FORMAT_RAW:
+	case DIFF_FORMAT_NAME_STATUS:
+	case DIFF_FORMAT_NAME:
+		show_raw_diff(p, num_parent, header, opt);
+		return 1;
+
+	default:
+	case DIFF_FORMAT_PATCH:
+		return show_patch_diff(p, num_parent, dense, header);
+	}
+}
+
+const char *diff_tree_combined_merge(const unsigned char *sha1,
+			     const char *header, int dense,
+			     struct diff_options *opt)
 {
 	struct commit *commit = lookup_commit(sha1);
 	struct diff_options diffopts;
@@ -785,7 +866,7 @@ int diff_tree_combined_merge(const unsigned char *sha1,
 	struct combine_diff_path *p, *paths = NULL;
 	int num_parent, i, num_paths;
 
-	diff_setup(&diffopts);
+	diffopts = *opt;
 	diffopts.output_format = DIFF_FORMAT_NO_OUTPUT;
 	diffopts.recursive = 1;
 
@@ -802,6 +883,7 @@ int diff_tree_combined_merge(const unsigned char *sha1,
 		struct commit *parent = parents->item;
 		diff_tree_sha1(parent->object.sha1, commit->object.sha1, "",
 			       &diffopts);
+		diffcore_std(&diffopts);
 		paths = intersect_paths(paths, i, num_parent);
 		diff_flush(&diffopts);
 	}
@@ -813,9 +895,8 @@ int diff_tree_combined_merge(const unsigned char *sha1,
 	}
 	if (num_paths) {
 		for (p = paths; p; p = p->next) {
-			if (!p->len)
-				continue;
-			if (show_combined_diff(p, num_parent, dense, header))
+			if (show_combined_diff(p, num_parent, dense,
+					       header, opt))
 				header = NULL;
 		}
 	}
@@ -826,5 +907,5 @@ int diff_tree_combined_merge(const unsigned char *sha1,
 		paths = paths->next;
 		free(tmp);
 	}
-	return 0;
+	return header;
 }
diff --git a/diff-files.c b/diff-files.c
index c96ad35fb6..574294f302 100644
--- a/diff-files.c
+++ b/diff-files.c
@@ -88,9 +88,8 @@ int main(int argc, const char **argv)
 		}
 		argv++; argc--;
 	}
-	if (combine_merges) {
+	if (dense_combined_merges)
 		diff_options.output_format = DIFF_FORMAT_PATCH;
-	}
 
 	/* Find the directory, and set up the pathspec */
 	pathspec = get_pathspec(prefix, argv + 1);
@@ -166,7 +165,8 @@ int main(int argc, const char **argv)
 			if (combine_merges && num_compare_stages == 2) {
 				show_combined_diff(&combine.p, 2,
 						   dense_combined_merges,
-						   NULL);
+						   NULL,
+						   &diff_options);
 				free(combine.p.path);
 				continue;
 			}
diff --git a/diff-tree.c b/diff-tree.c
index 7148323348..b170b03fd3 100644
--- a/diff-tree.c
+++ b/diff-tree.c
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ static int show_root_diff = 0;
 static int no_commit_id = 0;
 static int verbose_header = 0;
 static int ignore_merges = 1;
-static int combine_merges = 0;
+static int combine_merges = 1;
 static int dense_combined_merges = 0;
 static int read_stdin = 0;
 static int always_show_header = 0;
@@ -117,8 +117,12 @@ static int diff_tree_commit(struct commit *commit)
 			return 0;
 		else if (combine_merges) {
 			header = generate_header(sha1, sha1, commit);
-			return diff_tree_combined_merge(sha1, header,
-							dense_combined_merges);
+			header = diff_tree_combined_merge(sha1, header,
+							dense_combined_merges,
+							&diff_options);
+			if (!header && verbose_header)
+				header_prefix = "\ndiff-tree ";
+			return 0;
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -244,7 +248,7 @@ int main(int argc, const char **argv)
 			continue;
 		}
 		if (!strcmp(arg, "-m")) {
-			ignore_merges = 0;
+			combine_merges = ignore_merges = 0;
 			continue;
 		}
 		if (!strcmp(arg, "-c")) {
@@ -285,10 +289,12 @@ int main(int argc, const char **argv)
 		usage(diff_tree_usage);
 	}
 
-	if (combine_merges) {
-		diff_options.output_format = DIFF_FORMAT_PATCH;
+	if (combine_merges)
 		ignore_merges = 0;
-	}
+
+	/* We can only do dense combined merges with diff output */
+	if (dense_combined_merges)
+		diff_options.output_format = DIFF_FORMAT_PATCH;
 
 	if (diff_options.output_format == DIFF_FORMAT_PATCH)
 		diff_options.recursive = 1;
diff --git a/diff.h b/diff.h
index 5c5e7fa91f..946a4067cc 100644
--- a/diff.h
+++ b/diff.h
@@ -74,10 +74,11 @@ struct combine_diff_path {
 	(sizeof(struct combine_diff_path) + \
 	 sizeof(struct combine_diff_parent) * (n) + (l) + 1)
 
-int show_combined_diff(struct combine_diff_path *elem, int num_parent,
-		       int dense, const char *header);
+extern int show_combined_diff(struct combine_diff_path *elem, int num_parent,
+			      int dense, const char *header,
+			      struct diff_options *);
 
-extern int diff_tree_combined_merge(const unsigned char *sha1, const char *, int);
+extern const char *diff_tree_combined_merge(const unsigned char *sha1, const char *, int, struct diff_options *opt);
 
 extern void diff_addremove(struct diff_options *,
 			   int addremove,