diff --git a/internal/gitaly/service/commit/find_commits.go b/internal/gitaly/service/commit/find_commits.go
index 92054c23b528b12b45a85f3ff553a05f543234fc..161276f4da95c147b868c8e302af0ad354e16177 100644
--- a/internal/gitaly/service/commit/find_commits.go
+++ b/internal/gitaly/service/commit/find_commits.go
@@ -104,7 +104,11 @@ func (s *server) findCommits(ctx context.Context, req *gitalypb.FindCommitsReque
 		}
 	}
 
-	if err := streamCommits(getCommits, stream, req.GetTrailers(), req.GetIncludeShortstat(), len(req.GetIncludeReferencedBy()) > 0); err != nil {
+	// filter out merge commits when using --follow with paths which adds -m
+	// flag for locating subtree changes but are not desired in the results.
+	skipMerges := req.GetFollow() && len(req.GetPaths()) > 0
+
+	if err := streamCommits(getCommits, stream, req.GetTrailers(), req.GetIncludeShortstat(), len(req.GetIncludeReferencedBy()) > 0, skipMerges); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("error streaming commits: %w", err)
 	}
 
@@ -208,7 +212,7 @@ func (g *GetCommits) Commit(ctx context.Context, trailers, shortStat, refs bool)
 	return commit.GitCommit, nil
 }
 
-func streamCommits(getCommits *GetCommits, stream gitalypb.CommitService_FindCommitsServer, trailers, shortStat bool, refs bool) error {
+func streamCommits(getCommits *GetCommits, stream gitalypb.CommitService_FindCommitsServer, trailers, shortStat bool, refs bool, skipMerges bool) error {
 	ctx := stream.Context()
 
 	chunker := chunk.New(&commitsSender{
@@ -225,6 +229,11 @@ func streamCommits(getCommits *GetCommits, stream gitalypb.CommitService_FindCom
 			return err
 		}
 
+		// Skip merge commits if requested (has more than one parent)
+		if skipMerges && len(commit.GetParentIds()) > 1 {
+			continue
+		}
+
 		if err := chunker.Send(commit); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -267,6 +276,7 @@ func getLogCommandSubCmd(req *gitalypb.FindCommitsRequest) gitcmd.Command {
 
 	if req.GetFollow() && len(req.GetPaths()) > 0 {
 		subCmd.Flags = append(subCmd.Flags, gitcmd.Flag{Name: "--follow"})
+		subCmd.Flags = append(subCmd.Flags, gitcmd.Flag{Name: "-m"})
 	}
 	if req.GetAuthor() != nil {
 		subCmd.Flags = append(subCmd.Flags, gitcmd.Flag{Name: fmt.Sprintf("--author=%s", string(req.GetAuthor()))})
diff --git a/internal/gitaly/service/commit/find_commits_test.go b/internal/gitaly/service/commit/find_commits_test.go
index 1e43c22f186f2528d8346b39ea79932bfee19204..6dcb1f8d0639ce664df1110b6f5558d691321207 100644
--- a/internal/gitaly/service/commit/find_commits_test.go
+++ b/internal/gitaly/service/commit/find_commits_test.go
@@ -469,6 +469,54 @@ func TestFindCommits(t *testing.T) {
 				}
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			desc: "follow renames through merge commits (subtree)",
+			setup: func(t *testing.T) setupData {
+				repo, _ := gittest.CreateRepository(t, ctx, cfg)
+
+				// Create initial commit with a file
+				commitAID, commitA := writeCommit(t, repo, gittest.WithTreeEntries(
+					gittest.TreeEntry{Path: "testfile", Mode: "100644", Content: "line 1\n"},
+				))
+
+				// Create second commit modifying the file
+				commitBID, commitB := writeCommit(t, repo, gittest.WithTreeEntries(
+					gittest.TreeEntry{Path: "testfile", Mode: "100644", Content: "line 1\nline 2\n"},
+				), gittest.WithParents(commitAID))
+
+				// Create third commit modifying the file
+				commitCID, commitC := writeCommit(t, repo, gittest.WithTreeEntries(
+					gittest.TreeEntry{Path: "testfile", Mode: "100644", Content: "line 1\nline 2\nline 3\n"},
+				), gittest.WithParents(commitBID))
+
+				// Create a separate branch with different content
+				otherCommitID, _ := writeCommit(t, repo, gittest.WithTreeEntries(
+					gittest.TreeEntry{Path: "other", Mode: "100644", Content: "other\n"},
+				))
+
+				// Create merge commit (simulating subtree add/merge)
+				// This brings in the history from commitCID
+				mergeID, _ := writeCommit(t, repo, gittest.WithTreeEntries(
+					gittest.TreeEntry{Path: "testfile", Mode: "100644", Content: "line 1\nline 2\nline 3\n"},
+					gittest.TreeEntry{Path: "other", Mode: "100644", Content: "other\n"},
+				), gittest.WithParents(otherCommitID, commitCID))
+
+				return setupData{
+					request: &gitalypb.FindCommitsRequest{
+						Repository: repo,
+						Revision:   []byte(mergeID),
+						Paths: [][]byte{
+							[]byte("testfile"),
+						},
+						Follow: true,
+						Limit:  9000,
+					},
+					// With -m flag and merge filtering: shows commits from merged branch
+					// but excludes the merge commit itself
+					expectedCommits: []*gitalypb.GitCommit{commitC, commitB, commitA},
+				}
+			},
+		},
 		{
 			desc: "all references",
 			setup: func(t *testing.T) setupData {