diff --git a/scripts/checkpatch.pl b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
index 32bd31c1345c..3642b0d5ad6a 100755
--- a/scripts/checkpatch.pl
+++ b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
@@ -2191,6 +2191,7 @@ sub process {
 			my $case = 1;
 			my $space = 1;
 			my $hasdesc = 0;
+			my $hasparens = 0;
 			my $id = '0123456789ab';
 			my $orig_desc = "commit description";
 			my $description = "";
@@ -2201,10 +2202,12 @@ sub process {
 			$case = 0 if ($line =~ /\b[Cc]ommit\s+[0-9a-f]{5,40}[^A-F]/);
 			if ($line =~ /\bcommit\s+[0-9a-f]{5,}\s+\("([^"]+)"\)/i) {
 				$orig_desc = $1;
+				$hasparens = 1;
 			} elsif ($line =~ /\bcommit\s+[0-9a-f]{5,}\s*$/i &&
 				 defined $rawlines[$linenr] &&
 				 $rawlines[$linenr] =~ /^\s*\("([^"]+)"\)/) {
 				$orig_desc = $1;
+				$hasparens = 1;
 			} elsif ($line =~ /\bcommit\s+[0-9a-f]{5,}\s+\("[^"]+$/i &&
 				 defined $rawlines[$linenr] &&
 				 $rawlines[$linenr] =~ /^\s*[^"]+"\)/) {
@@ -2212,12 +2215,13 @@ sub process {
 				$orig_desc = $1;
 				$rawlines[$linenr] =~ /^\s*([^"]+)"\)/;
 				$orig_desc .= " " . $1;
+				$hasparens = 1;
 			}
 
 			($id, $description) = git_commit_info($orig_commit,
 							      $id, $orig_desc);
 
-			if ($short || $long || $space || $case || ($orig_desc ne $description)) {
+			if ($short || $long || $space || $case || ($orig_desc ne $description) || !$hasparens) {
 				ERROR("GIT_COMMIT_ID",
 				      "Please use git commit description style 'commit <12+ chars of sha1> (\"<title line>\")' - ie: '${init_char}ommit $id (\"$description\")'\n" . $herecurr);
 			}