diff --git a/Documentation/SubmittingPatches b/Documentation/SubmittingPatches
index 76fc84d878..c686f8646b 100644
--- a/Documentation/SubmittingPatches
+++ b/Documentation/SubmittingPatches
@@ -279,6 +279,20 @@ from the list and queue it to 'pu', in order to make it easier for
 people play with it without having to pick up and apply the patch to
 their trees themselves.
 
+------------------------------------------------
+Know the status of your patch after submission
+
+* You can use Git itself to find out when your patch is merged in
+  master. 'git pull --rebase' will automatically skip already-applied
+  patches, and will let you know. This works only if you rebase on top
+  of the branch in which your patch has been merged (i.e. it will not
+  tell you if your patch is merged in pu if you rebase on top of
+  master).
+
+* Read the git mailing list, the maintainer regularly posts messages
+  entitled "What's cooking in git.git" and "What's in git.git" giving
+  the status of various proposed changes.
+
 ------------------------------------------------
 MUA specific hints
 
diff --git a/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt b/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt
index 288032c7b8..e6d364f53c 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt
@@ -311,8 +311,8 @@ change to the project.
 ....
 	'commit' SP <ref> LF
 	mark?
-	('author' SP <name> SP LT <email> GT SP <when> LF)?
-	'committer' SP <name> SP LT <email> GT SP <when> LF
+	('author' (SP <name>)? SP LT <email> GT SP <when> LF)?
+	'committer' (SP <name>)? SP LT <email> GT SP <when> LF
 	data
 	('from' SP <committish> LF)?
 	('merge' SP <committish> LF)?
@@ -657,7 +657,7 @@ lightweight (non-annotated) tags see the `reset` command below.
 ....
 	'tag' SP <name> LF
 	'from' SP <committish> LF
-	'tagger' SP <name> SP LT <email> GT SP <when> LF
+	'tagger' (SP <name>)? SP LT <email> GT SP <when> LF
 	data
 ....
 
diff --git a/builtin-branch.c b/builtin-branch.c
index c87e63b02d..ddc9f2dab7 100644
--- a/builtin-branch.c
+++ b/builtin-branch.c
@@ -638,10 +638,12 @@ int cmd_branch(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		rename_branch(head, argv[0], rename > 1);
 	else if (rename && (argc == 2))
 		rename_branch(argv[0], argv[1], rename > 1);
-	else if (argc <= 2)
+	else if (argc <= 2) {
+		if (kinds != REF_LOCAL_BRANCH)
+			die("-a and -r options to 'git branch' do not make sense with a branch name");
 		create_branch(head, argv[0], (argc == 2) ? argv[1] : head,
 			      force_create, reflog, track);
-	else
+	} else
 		usage_with_options(builtin_branch_usage, options);
 
 	return 0;
diff --git a/fast-import.c b/fast-import.c
index dd3c99d60d..cd87049871 100644
--- a/fast-import.c
+++ b/fast-import.c
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ Format of STDIN stream:
 
   new_commit ::= 'commit' sp ref_str lf
     mark?
-    ('author' sp name sp '<' email '>' sp when lf)?
-    'committer' sp name sp '<' email '>' sp when lf
+    ('author' (sp name)? sp '<' email '>' sp when lf)?
+    'committer' (sp name)? sp '<' email '>' sp when lf
     commit_msg
     ('from' sp committish lf)?
     ('merge' sp committish lf)*
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ Format of STDIN stream:
 
   new_tag ::= 'tag' sp tag_str lf
     'from' sp committish lf
-    ('tagger' sp name sp '<' email '>' sp when lf)?
+    ('tagger' (sp name)? sp '<' email '>' sp when lf)?
     tag_msg;
   tag_msg ::= data;
 
diff --git a/t/t5403-post-checkout-hook.sh b/t/t5403-post-checkout-hook.sh
index 5858b868ed..d05a9138b4 100755
--- a/t/t5403-post-checkout-hook.sh
+++ b/t/t5403-post-checkout-hook.sh
@@ -7,19 +7,19 @@ test_description='Test the post-checkout hook.'
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
 test_expect_success setup '
-	 echo Data for commit0. >a &&
-	 echo Data for commit0. >b &&
-	 git update-index --add a &&
-	 git update-index --add b &&
-	 tree0=$(git write-tree) &&
-	 commit0=$(echo setup | git commit-tree $tree0) &&
-        git update-ref refs/heads/master $commit0 &&
-	 git clone ./. clone1 &&
-	 git clone ./. clone2 &&
-        GIT_DIR=clone2/.git git branch -a new2 &&
-        echo Data for commit1. >clone2/b &&
-	 GIT_DIR=clone2/.git git add clone2/b &&
-	 GIT_DIR=clone2/.git git commit -m new2
+	echo Data for commit0. >a &&
+	echo Data for commit0. >b &&
+	git update-index --add a &&
+	git update-index --add b &&
+	tree0=$(git write-tree) &&
+	commit0=$(echo setup | git commit-tree $tree0) &&
+	git update-ref refs/heads/master $commit0 &&
+	git clone ./. clone1 &&
+	git clone ./. clone2 &&
+	GIT_DIR=clone2/.git git branch new2 &&
+	echo Data for commit1. >clone2/b &&
+	GIT_DIR=clone2/.git git add clone2/b &&
+	GIT_DIR=clone2/.git git commit -m new2
 '
 
 for clone in 1 2; do