diff --git a/git-send-email.perl b/git-send-email.perl
index 196efcd5e4..f304ef913e 100755
--- a/git-send-email.perl
+++ b/git-send-email.perl
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ sub unique_email_list(@);
 sub cleanup_compose_files();
 
 # Variables we fill in automatically, or via prompting:
-my (@to,$no_to,@cc,$no_cc,@initial_cc,@bcclist,$no_bcc,@xh,
+my (@to,$no_to,@initial_to,@cc,$no_cc,@initial_cc,@bcclist,$no_bcc,@xh,
 	$initial_reply_to,$initial_subject,@files,
 	$author,$sender,$smtp_authpass,$annotate,$compose,$time);
 
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ my %config_settings = (
     "smtpuser" => \$smtp_authuser,
     "smtppass" => \$smtp_authpass,
     "smtpdomain" => \$smtp_domain,
-    "to" => \@to,
+    "to" => \@initial_to,
     "tocmd" => \$to_cmd,
     "cc" => \@initial_cc,
     "cccmd" => \$cc_cmd,
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ $SIG{INT}  = \&signal_handler;
 my $rc = GetOptions("sender|from=s" => \$sender,
                     "in-reply-to=s" => \$initial_reply_to,
 		    "subject=s" => \$initial_subject,
-		    "to=s" => \@to,
+		    "to=s" => \@initial_to,
 		    "to-cmd=s" => \$to_cmd,
 		    "no-to" => \$no_to,
 		    "cc=s" => \@initial_cc,
@@ -422,7 +422,7 @@ my ($repoauthor, $repocommitter);
 
 # Verify the user input
 
-foreach my $entry (@to) {
+foreach my $entry (@initial_to) {
 	die "Comma in --to entry: $entry'\n" unless $entry !~ m/,/;
 }
 
@@ -734,9 +734,9 @@ if (!defined $sender) {
 	$prompting++;
 }
 
-if (!@to && !defined $to_cmd) {
+if (!@initial_to && !defined $to_cmd) {
 	my $to = ask("Who should the emails be sent to? ");
-	push @to, parse_address_line($to) if defined $to; # sanitized/validated later
+	push @initial_to, parse_address_line($to) if defined $to; # sanitized/validated later
 	$prompting++;
 }
 
@@ -754,8 +754,8 @@ sub expand_one_alias {
 	return $aliases{$alias} ? expand_aliases(@{$aliases{$alias}}) : $alias;
 }
 
-@to = expand_aliases(@to);
-@to = (map { sanitize_address($_) } @to);
+@initial_to = expand_aliases(@initial_to);
+@initial_to = (map { sanitize_address($_) } @initial_to);
 @initial_cc = expand_aliases(@initial_cc);
 @bcclist = expand_aliases(@bcclist);
 
@@ -1161,6 +1161,7 @@ foreach my $t (@files) {
 	my $author_encoding;
 	my $has_content_type;
 	my $body_encoding;
+	@to = ();
 	@cc = ();
 	@xh = ();
 	my $input_format = undef;
@@ -1201,6 +1202,13 @@ foreach my $t (@files) {
 					$1, $_) unless $quiet;
 				push @cc, $1;
 			}
+			elsif (/^To:\s+(.*)$/) {
+				foreach my $addr (parse_address_line($1)) {
+					printf("(mbox) Adding to: %s from line '%s'\n",
+						$addr, $_) unless $quiet;
+					push @to, sanitize_address($addr);
+				}
+			}
 			elsif (/^Cc:\s+(.*)$/) {
 				foreach my $addr (parse_address_line($1)) {
 					if (unquote_rfc2047($addr) eq $sender) {
@@ -1307,6 +1315,7 @@ foreach my $t (@files) {
 		($confirm =~ /^(?:auto|compose)$/ && $compose && $message_num == 1));
 	$needs_confirm = "inform" if ($needs_confirm && $confirm_unconfigured && @cc);
 
+	@to = (@initial_to, @to);
 	@cc = (@initial_cc, @cc);
 
 	my $message_was_sent = send_message();
diff --git a/t/t9001-send-email.sh b/t/t9001-send-email.sh
index ba11c00c74..028758c652 100755
--- a/t/t9001-send-email.sh
+++ b/t/t9001-send-email.sh
@@ -965,6 +965,45 @@ test_expect_success $PREREQ '--no-bcc overrides sendemail.bcc' '
 	! grep "RCPT TO:<other@ex.com>" stdout
 '
 
+test_expect_success $PREREQ 'patches To headers are used by default' '
+	patch=`git format-patch -1 --to="bodies@example.com"` &&
+	test_when_finished "rm $patch" &&
+	git send-email \
+		--dry-run \
+		--from="Example <nobody@example.com>" \
+		--smtp-server relay.example.com \
+		$patch >stdout &&
+	grep "RCPT TO:<bodies@example.com>" stdout
+'
+
+test_expect_success $PREREQ 'patches To headers are appended to' '
+	patch=`git format-patch -1 --to="bodies@example.com"` &&
+	test_when_finished "rm $patch" &&
+	git send-email \
+		--dry-run \
+		--from="Example <nobody@example.com>" \
+		--to=nobody@example.com \
+		--smtp-server relay.example.com \
+		$patch >stdout &&
+	grep "RCPT TO:<bodies@example.com>" stdout &&
+	grep "RCPT TO:<nobody@example.com>" stdout
+'
+
+test_expect_success $PREREQ 'To headers from files reset each patch' '
+	patch1=`git format-patch -1 --to="bodies@example.com"` &&
+	patch2=`git format-patch -1 --to="other@example.com" HEAD~` &&
+	test_when_finished "rm $patch1 && rm $patch2" &&
+	git send-email \
+		--dry-run \
+		--from="Example <nobody@example.com>" \
+		--to="nobody@example.com" \
+		--smtp-server relay.example.com \
+		$patch1 $patch2 >stdout &&
+	test $(grep -c "RCPT TO:<bodies@example.com>" stdout) = 1 &&
+	test $(grep -c "RCPT TO:<nobody@example.com>" stdout) = 2 &&
+	test $(grep -c "RCPT TO:<other@example.com>" stdout) = 1
+'
+
 test_expect_success $PREREQ 'setup expect' '
 cat >email-using-8bit <<EOF
 From fe6ecc66ece37198fe5db91fa2fc41d9f4fe5cc4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001