diff --git a/Documentation/git-check-attr.txt b/Documentation/git-check-attr.txt
index a7be80d48b..00e2aa2df2 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-check-attr.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-check-attr.txt
@@ -31,8 +31,9 @@ OPTIONS
 	Read file names from stdin instead of from the command-line.
 
 -z::
-	Only meaningful with `--stdin`; paths are separated with a
-	NUL character instead of a linefeed character.
+	The output format is modified to be machine-parseable.
+	If `--stdin` is also given, input paths are separated
+	with a NUL character instead of a linefeed character.
 
 \--::
 	Interpret all preceding arguments as attributes and all following
@@ -48,6 +49,10 @@ OUTPUT
 The output is of the form:
 <path> COLON SP <attribute> COLON SP <info> LF
 
+unless `-z` is in effect, in which case NUL is used as delimiter:
+<path> NUL <attribute> NUL <info> NUL
+
+
 <path> is the path of a file being queried, <attribute> is an attribute
 being queried and <info> can be either:
 
diff --git a/builtin/check-attr.c b/builtin/check-attr.c
index 075d01d30c..cd46690ec7 100644
--- a/builtin/check-attr.c
+++ b/builtin/check-attr.c
@@ -13,14 +13,14 @@ N_("git check-attr --stdin [-z] [-a | --all | attr...] < <list-of-paths>"),
 NULL
 };
 
-static int null_term_line;
+static int nul_term_line;
 
 static const struct option check_attr_options[] = {
 	OPT_BOOLEAN('a', "all", &all_attrs, N_("report all attributes set on file")),
 	OPT_BOOLEAN(0,  "cached", &cached_attrs, N_("use .gitattributes only from the index")),
 	OPT_BOOLEAN(0 , "stdin", &stdin_paths, N_("read file names from stdin")),
-	OPT_BOOLEAN('z', NULL, &null_term_line,
-		N_("input paths are terminated by a null character")),
+	OPT_BOOLEAN('z', NULL, &nul_term_line,
+		    N_("terminate input and output records by a NUL character")),
 	OPT_END()
 };
 
@@ -38,8 +38,16 @@ static void output_attr(int cnt, struct git_attr_check *check,
 		else if (ATTR_UNSET(value))
 			value = "unspecified";
 
-		quote_c_style(file, NULL, stdout, 0);
-		printf(": %s: %s\n", git_attr_name(check[j].attr), value);
+		if (nul_term_line) {
+			printf("%s%c" /* path */
+			       "%s%c" /* attrname */
+			       "%s%c" /* attrvalue */,
+			       file, 0, git_attr_name(check[j].attr), 0, value, 0);
+		} else {
+			quote_c_style(file, NULL, stdout, 0);
+			printf(": %s: %s\n", git_attr_name(check[j].attr), value);
+		}
+
 	}
 }
 
@@ -65,7 +73,7 @@ static void check_attr_stdin_paths(const char *prefix, int cnt,
 	struct git_attr_check *check)
 {
 	struct strbuf buf, nbuf;
-	int line_termination = null_term_line ? 0 : '\n';
+	int line_termination = nul_term_line ? 0 : '\n';
 
 	strbuf_init(&buf, 0);
 	strbuf_init(&nbuf, 0);
diff --git a/builtin/check-ignore.c b/builtin/check-ignore.c
index 4a8fc707c7..503a559b18 100644
--- a/builtin/check-ignore.c
+++ b/builtin/check-ignore.c
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ static const char * const check_ignore_usage[] = {
 NULL
 };
 
-static int null_term_line;
+static int nul_term_line;
 
 static const struct option check_ignore_options[] = {
 	OPT__QUIET(&quiet, N_("suppress progress reporting")),
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ static const struct option check_ignore_options[] = {
 	OPT_GROUP(""),
 	OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "stdin", &stdin_paths,
 		    N_("read file names from stdin")),
-	OPT_BOOLEAN('z', NULL, &null_term_line,
-		    N_("input paths are terminated by a null character")),
+	OPT_BOOLEAN('z', NULL, &nul_term_line,
+		    N_("terminate input and output records by a NUL character")),
 	OPT_BOOLEAN('n', "non-matching", &show_non_matching,
 		    N_("show non-matching input paths")),
 	OPT_END()
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ static void output_exclude(const char *path, struct exclude *exclude)
 {
 	char *bang  = (exclude && exclude->flags & EXC_FLAG_NEGATIVE)  ? "!" : "";
 	char *slash = (exclude && exclude->flags & EXC_FLAG_MUSTBEDIR) ? "/" : "";
-	if (!null_term_line) {
+	if (!nul_term_line) {
 		if (!verbose) {
 			write_name_quoted(path, stdout, '\n');
 		} else {
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ static int check_ignore_stdin_paths(struct dir_struct *dir, const char *prefix)
 {
 	struct strbuf buf, nbuf;
 	char *pathspec[2] = { NULL, NULL };
-	int line_termination = null_term_line ? 0 : '\n';
+	int line_termination = nul_term_line ? 0 : '\n';
 	int num_ignored = 0;
 
 	strbuf_init(&buf, 0);
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ int cmd_check_ignore(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		if (argc > 0)
 			die(_("cannot specify pathnames with --stdin"));
 	} else {
-		if (null_term_line)
+		if (nul_term_line)
 			die(_("-z only makes sense with --stdin"));
 		if (argc == 0)
 			die(_("no path specified"));