diff --git a/Documentation/revisions.txt b/Documentation/revisions.txt
index dc0070bcb7..69d996bc38 100644
--- a/Documentation/revisions.txt
+++ b/Documentation/revisions.txt
@@ -213,6 +213,13 @@ of 'r1' and 'r2' and is defined as
 It is the set of commits that are reachable from either one of
 'r1' or 'r2' but not from both.
 
+In these two shorthands, you can omit one end and let it default to HEAD.
+For example, 'origin..' is a shorthand for 'origin..HEAD' and asks "What
+did I do since I forked from the origin branch?"  Similarly, '..origin'
+is a shorthand for 'HEAD..origin' and asks "What did the origin do since
+I forked from them?"  Note that '..' would mean 'HEAD..HEAD' which is an
+empty range that is both reachable and unreachable from HEAD.
+
 Two other shorthands for naming a set that is formed by a commit
 and its parent commits exist.  The 'r1{caret}@' notation means all
 parents of 'r1'.  'r1{caret}!' includes commit 'r1' but excludes
diff --git a/builtin/rev-parse.c b/builtin/rev-parse.c
index bb3a5161bb..f267a1d3b5 100644
--- a/builtin/rev-parse.c
+++ b/builtin/rev-parse.c
@@ -230,6 +230,7 @@ static int try_difference(const char *arg)
 	const char *next;
 	const char *this;
 	int symmetric;
+	static const char head_by_default[] = "HEAD";
 
 	if (!(dotdot = strstr(arg, "..")))
 		return 0;
@@ -241,9 +242,20 @@ static int try_difference(const char *arg)
 	next += symmetric;
 
 	if (!*next)
-		next = "HEAD";
+		next = head_by_default;
 	if (dotdot == arg)
-		this = "HEAD";
+		this = head_by_default;
+
+	if (this == head_by_default && next == head_by_default &&
+	    !symmetric) {
+		/*
+		 * Just ".."?  That is not a range but the
+		 * pathspec for the parent directory.
+		 */
+		*dotdot = '.';
+		return 0;
+	}
+
 	if (!get_sha1_committish(this, sha1) && !get_sha1_committish(next, end)) {
 		show_rev(NORMAL, end, next);
 		show_rev(symmetric ? NORMAL : REVERSED, sha1, this);
diff --git a/revision.c b/revision.c
index 442a945233..cbcae1086b 100644
--- a/revision.c
+++ b/revision.c
@@ -1134,15 +1134,27 @@ int handle_revision_arg(const char *arg_, struct rev_info *revs, int flags, unsi
 		const char *this = arg;
 		int symmetric = *next == '.';
 		unsigned int flags_exclude = flags ^ UNINTERESTING;
+		static const char head_by_default[] = "HEAD";
 		unsigned int a_flags;
 
 		*dotdot = 0;
 		next += symmetric;
 
 		if (!*next)
-			next = "HEAD";
+			next = head_by_default;
 		if (dotdot == arg)
-			this = "HEAD";
+			this = head_by_default;
+		if (this == head_by_default && next == head_by_default &&
+		    !symmetric) {
+			/*
+			 * Just ".."?  That is not a range but the
+			 * pathspec for the parent directory.
+			 */
+			if (!cant_be_filename) {
+				*dotdot = '.';
+				return -1;
+			}
+		}
 		if (!get_sha1_committish(this, from_sha1) &&
 		    !get_sha1_committish(next, sha1)) {
 			struct commit *a, *b;
diff --git a/t/t1506-rev-parse-diagnosis.sh b/t/t1506-rev-parse-diagnosis.sh
index c5cb77a0e1..f950c10128 100755
--- a/t/t1506-rev-parse-diagnosis.sh
+++ b/t/t1506-rev-parse-diagnosis.sh
@@ -182,4 +182,18 @@ test_expect_success '<commit>:file correctly diagnosed after a pathname' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'dotdot is not an empty set' '
+	( H=$(git rev-parse HEAD) && echo $H && echo ^$H ) >expect &&
+
+	git rev-parse HEAD.. >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual &&
+
+	git rev-parse ..HEAD >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual &&
+
+	echo .. >expect &&
+	git rev-parse .. >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_done
diff --git a/t/t4202-log.sh b/t/t4202-log.sh
index 31869dc0db..0baaad2a24 100755
--- a/t/t4202-log.sh
+++ b/t/t4202-log.sh
@@ -806,4 +806,11 @@ test_expect_success 'log --graph with diff and stats' '
 	test_i18ncmp expect actual.sanitized
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'dotdot is a parent directory' '
+	mkdir -p a/b &&
+	( echo sixth && echo fifth ) >expect &&
+	( cd a/b && git log --format=%s .. ) >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_done