diff --git a/diff/diff_test.go b/diff/diff_test.go
index 3cd800f..dd5eb51 100644
--- a/diff/diff_test.go
+++ b/diff/diff_test.go
@@ -704,6 +704,69 @@ func TestParseMultiFileDiffHeaders(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			filename: "complicated_filenames.diff",
+			wantDiffs: []*FileDiff{
+				{
+					OrigName: "/dev/null",
+					NewName:  "b/new empty file with spaces",
+					Extended: []string{
+						"diff --git a/new empty file with spaces b/new empty file with spaces",
+						"new file mode 100644",
+						"index 0000000..e69de29",
+					},
+				},
+				{
+					OrigName: "/dev/null",
+					NewName:  "b/new file with text",
+					Extended: []string{
+						"diff --git a/new file with text b/new file with text",
+						"new file mode 100644",
+						"index 0000000..c3ed4be",
+					},
+				},
+				{
+					OrigName: "a/existing file with spaces",
+					NewName:  "b/new file with spaces",
+					Extended: []string{
+						"diff --git a/existing file with spaces b/new file with spaces",
+						"similarity index 100%",
+						"copy from existing file with spaces",
+						"copy to new file with spaces",
+					},
+				},
+				{
+					OrigName: "a/existing file with spaces",
+					NewName:  "b/new, complicated\nfilenøme",
+					Extended: []string{
+						`diff --git a/existing file with spaces "b/new, complicated\nfilen\303\270me"`,
+						"similarity index 100%",
+						"copy from existing file with spaces",
+						`copy to "new, complicated\nfilen\303\270me"`,
+					},
+				},
+				{
+					OrigName: "a/existing file with spaces",
+					NewName:  `b/new "complicated" filename`,
+					Extended: []string{
+						`diff --git a/existing file with spaces "b/new \"complicated\" filename"`,
+						"similarity index 100%",
+						"copy from existing file with spaces",
+						`copy to "new \"complicated\" filename"`,
+					},
+				},
+				{
+					OrigName: `a/existing "complicated" filename`,
+					NewName:  "b/new, simpler filename",
+					Extended: []string{
+						`diff --git "a/existing \"complicated\" filename" b/new, simpler filename`,
+						"similarity index 100%",
+						`copy from "existing \"complicated\" filename"`,
+						"copy to new, simpler filename",
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
 	}
 	for _, test := range tests {
 		t.Run(test.filename, func(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/diff/parse.go b/diff/parse.go
index ac89747..ae2ede4 100644
--- a/diff/parse.go
+++ b/diff/parse.go
@@ -372,6 +372,102 @@ func (r *FileDiffReader) ReadExtendedHeaders() ([]string, error) {
 	}
 }
 
+// readQuotedFilename extracts a quoted filename from the beginning of a string,
+// returning the unquoted filename and any remaining text after the filename.
+func readQuotedFilename(text string) (value string, remainder string, err error) {
+	if text == "" || text[0] != '"' {
+		return "", "", fmt.Errorf(`string must start with a '"': %s`, text)
+	}
+
+	// The end quote is the first quote NOT preceeded by an uneven number of backslashes.
+	numberOfBackslashes := 0
+	for i, c := range text {
+		if c == '"' && i > 0 && numberOfBackslashes%2 == 0 {
+			value, err = strconv.Unquote(text[:i+1])
+			remainder = text[i+1:]
+			return
+		} else if c == '\\' {
+			numberOfBackslashes++
+		} else {
+			numberOfBackslashes = 0
+		}
+	}
+	return "", "", fmt.Errorf(`end of string found while searching for '"': %s`, text)
+}
+
+// parseDiffGitArgs extracts the two filenames from a 'diff --git' line.
+// Returns false on syntax error, true if syntax is valid. Even with a
+// valid syntax, it may be impossible to extract filenames; if so, the
+// function returns ("", "", true).
+func parseDiffGitArgs(diffArgs string) (string, string, bool) {
+	length := len(diffArgs)
+	if length < 3 {
+		return "", "", false
+	}
+
+	if diffArgs[0] != '"' && diffArgs[length-1] != '"' {
+		// Both filenames are unquoted.
+		firstSpace := strings.IndexByte(diffArgs, ' ')
+		if firstSpace <= 0 || firstSpace == length-1 {
+			return "", "", false
+		}
+
+		secondSpace := strings.IndexByte(diffArgs[firstSpace+1:], ' ')
+		if secondSpace == -1 {
+			if diffArgs[firstSpace+1] == '"' {
+				// The second filename begins with '"', but doesn't end with one.
+				return "", "", false
+			}
+			return diffArgs[:firstSpace], diffArgs[firstSpace+1:], true
+		}
+
+		// One or both filenames contain a space, but the names are
+		// unquoted. Here, the 'diff --git' syntax is ambiguous, and
+		// we have to obtain the filenames elsewhere (e.g. from the
+		// hunk headers or extended headers). HOWEVER, if the file
+		// is newly created and empty, there IS no other place to
+		// find the filename. In this case, the two filenames are
+		// identical (except for the leading 'a/' prefix), and we have
+		// to handle that case here.
+		first := diffArgs[:length/2]
+		second := diffArgs[length/2+1:]
+		if len(first) >= 3 && length%2 == 1 && first[1] == '/' && first[1:] == second[1:] {
+			return first, second, true
+		}
+
+		// The syntax is (unfortunately) valid, but we could not extract
+		// the filenames.
+		return "", "", true
+	}
+
+	if diffArgs[0] == '"' {
+		first, remainder, err := readQuotedFilename(diffArgs)
+		if err != nil || len(remainder) < 2 || remainder[0] != ' ' {
+			return "", "", false
+		}
+		if remainder[1] == '"' {
+			second, remainder, err := readQuotedFilename(remainder[1:])
+			if remainder != "" || err != nil {
+				return "", "", false
+			}
+			return first, second, true
+		}
+		return first, remainder[1:], true
+	}
+
+	// In this case, second argument MUST be quoted (or it's a syntax error)
+	i := strings.IndexByte(diffArgs, '"')
+	if i == -1 || i+2 >= length || diffArgs[i-1] != ' ' {
+		return "", "", false
+	}
+
+	second, remainder, err := readQuotedFilename(diffArgs[i:])
+	if remainder != "" || err != nil {
+		return "", "", false
+	}
+	return diffArgs[:i-1], second, true
+}
+
 // handleEmpty detects when FileDiff was an empty diff and will not have any hunks
 // that follow. It updates fd fields from the parsed extended headers.
 func handleEmpty(fd *FileDiff) (wasEmpty bool) {
@@ -388,6 +484,10 @@ func handleEmpty(fd *FileDiff) (wasEmpty bool) {
 		return lineHasPrefix(idx1, prefix1) && lineHasPrefix(idx2, prefix2)
 	}
 
+	isCopy := (lineCount == 4 && linesHavePrefixes(2, "copy from ", 3, "copy to ")) ||
+		(lineCount == 6 && linesHavePrefixes(2, "copy from ", 3, "copy to ") && lineHasPrefix(5, "Binary files ")) ||
+		(lineCount == 6 && linesHavePrefixes(1, "old mode ", 2, "new mode ") && linesHavePrefixes(4, "copy from ", 5, "copy to "))
+
 	isRename := (lineCount == 4 && linesHavePrefixes(2, "rename from ", 3, "rename to ")) ||
 		(lineCount == 6 && linesHavePrefixes(2, "rename from ", 3, "rename to ") && lineHasPrefix(5, "Binary files ")) ||
 		(lineCount == 6 && linesHavePrefixes(1, "old mode ", 2, "new mode ") && linesHavePrefixes(4, "rename from ", 5, "rename to "))
@@ -402,22 +502,12 @@ func handleEmpty(fd *FileDiff) (wasEmpty bool) {
 
 	isBinaryPatch := lineCount == 3 && lineHasPrefix(2, "Binary files ") || lineCount > 3 && lineHasPrefix(2, "GIT binary patch")
 
-	if !isModeChange && !isRename && !isBinaryPatch && !isNewFile && !isDeletedFile {
+	if !isModeChange && !isCopy && !isRename && !isBinaryPatch && !isNewFile && !isDeletedFile {
 		return false
 	}
 
-	names := strings.SplitN(fd.Extended[0][len("diff --git "):], " ", 2)
-
-	var err error
-	fd.OrigName, err = strconv.Unquote(names[0])
-	if err != nil {
-		fd.OrigName = names[0]
-	}
-	fd.NewName, err = strconv.Unquote(names[1])
-	if err != nil {
-		fd.NewName = names[1]
-	}
-
+	var success bool
+	fd.OrigName, fd.NewName, success = parseDiffGitArgs(fd.Extended[0][len("diff --git "):])
 	if isNewFile {
 		fd.OrigName = "/dev/null"
 	}
@@ -426,7 +516,38 @@ func handleEmpty(fd *FileDiff) (wasEmpty bool) {
 		fd.NewName = "/dev/null"
 	}
 
-	return true
+	// For ambiguous 'diff --git' lines, try to reconstruct filenames using extended headers.
+	if success && (isCopy || isRename) && fd.OrigName == "" && fd.NewName == "" {
+		diffArgs := fd.Extended[0][len("diff --git "):]
+
+		tryReconstruct := func(header string, prefix string, whichFile int, result *string) {
+			if !strings.HasPrefix(header, prefix) {
+				return
+			}
+			rawFilename := header[len(prefix):]
+
+			// extract the filename prefix (e.g. "a/") from the 'diff --git' line.
+			var prefixLetterIndex int
+			if whichFile == 1 {
+				prefixLetterIndex = 0
+			} else if whichFile == 2 {
+				prefixLetterIndex = len(diffArgs) - len(rawFilename) - 2
+			}
+			if prefixLetterIndex < 0 || diffArgs[prefixLetterIndex+1] != '/' {
+				return
+			}
+
+			*result = diffArgs[prefixLetterIndex:prefixLetterIndex+2] + rawFilename
+		}
+
+		for _, header := range fd.Extended {
+			tryReconstruct(header, "copy from ", 1, &fd.OrigName)
+			tryReconstruct(header, "copy to ", 2, &fd.NewName)
+			tryReconstruct(header, "rename from ", 1, &fd.OrigName)
+			tryReconstruct(header, "rename to ", 2, &fd.NewName)
+		}
+	}
+	return success
 }
 
 var (
diff --git a/diff/parse_test.go b/diff/parse_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ad00c2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/diff/parse_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+package diff
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestReadQuotedFilename_Success(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		input, value, remainder string
+	}{
+		{input: `""`, value: "", remainder: ""},
+		{input: `"aaa"`, value: "aaa", remainder: ""},
+		{input: `"aaa" bbb`, value: "aaa", remainder: " bbb"},
+		{input: `"aaa" "bbb" ccc`, value: "aaa", remainder: ` "bbb" ccc`},
+		{input: `"\""`, value: "\"", remainder: ""},
+		{input: `"uh \"oh\""`, value: "uh \"oh\"", remainder: ""},
+		{input: `"uh \\"oh\\""`, value: "uh \\", remainder: `oh\\""`},
+		{input: `"uh \\\"oh\\\""`, value: "uh \\\"oh\\\"", remainder: ""},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range tests {
+		value, remainder, err := readQuotedFilename(tc.input)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("readQuotedFilename(`%s`): expected success, got '%s'", tc.input, err)
+		} else if value != tc.value || remainder != tc.remainder {
+			t.Errorf("readQuotedFilename(`%s`): expected `%s` and `%s`, got `%s` and `%s`", tc.input, tc.value, tc.remainder, value, remainder)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestReadQuotedFilename_Error(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []string{
+		// Doesn't start with a quote
+		``,
+		`foo`,
+		` "foo"`,
+		// Missing end quote
+		`"`,
+		`"\"`,
+		// "\x" is not a valid Go string literal escape
+		`"\xxx"`,
+	}
+	for _, input := range tests {
+		_, _, err := readQuotedFilename(input)
+		if err == nil {
+			t.Errorf("readQuotedFilename(`%s`): expected error", input)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestParseDiffGitArgs_Success(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		input, first, second string
+	}{
+		{input: `aaa bbb`, first: "aaa", second: "bbb"},
+		{input: `"aaa" bbb`, first: "aaa", second: "bbb"},
+		{input: `aaa "bbb"`, first: "aaa", second: "bbb"},
+		{input: `"aaa" "bbb"`, first: "aaa", second: "bbb"},
+		{input: `1/a 2/z`, first: "1/a", second: "2/z"},
+		{input: `1/hello world 2/hello world`, first: "1/hello world", second: "2/hello world"},
+		{input: `"new\nline" and spaces`, first: "new\nline", second: "and spaces"},
+		{input: `a/existing file with spaces "b/new, complicated\nfilen\303\270me"`, first: "a/existing file with spaces", second: "b/new, complicated\nfilen\303\270me"},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range tests {
+		first, second, success := parseDiffGitArgs(tc.input)
+		if !success {
+			t.Errorf("`diff --git %s`: expected success", tc.input)
+		} else if first != tc.first || second != tc.second {
+			t.Errorf("`diff --git %s`: expected `%s` and `%s`, got `%s` and `%s`", tc.input, tc.first, tc.second, first, second)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestParseDiffGitArgs_Unsuccessful(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []string{
+		``,
+		`hello_world.txt`,
+		`word `,
+		` word`,
+		`"a/bad_quoting b/bad_quoting`,
+		`a/bad_quoting "b/bad_quoting`,
+		`a/bad_quoting b/bad_quoting"`,
+		`"a/bad_quoting b/bad_quoting"`,
+		`"a/bad""b/bad"`,
+		`"a/bad" "b/bad" "c/bad"`,
+		`a/bad "b/bad" "c/bad"`,
+	}
+	for _, input := range tests {
+		first, second, success := parseDiffGitArgs(input)
+		if success {
+			t.Errorf("`diff --git %s`: expected unsuccessful; got `%s` and `%s`", input, first, second)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/diff/testdata/complicated_filenames.diff b/diff/testdata/complicated_filenames.diff
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..29521bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/diff/testdata/complicated_filenames.diff
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+diff --git a/new empty file with spaces b/new empty file with spaces
+new file mode 100644
+index 0000000..e69de29
+diff --git a/new file with text b/new file with text
+new file mode 100644
+index 0000000..c3ed4be
+--- /dev/null
++++ b/new file with text
+@@ -0,0 +1 @@
++new file with text
+diff --git a/existing file with spaces b/new file with spaces
+similarity index 100%
+copy from existing file with spaces
+copy to new file with spaces
+diff --git a/existing file with spaces "b/new, complicated\nfilen\303\270me"
+similarity index 100%
+copy from existing file with spaces
+copy to "new, complicated\nfilen\303\270me"
+diff --git a/existing file with spaces "b/new \"complicated\" filename"
+similarity index 100%
+copy from existing file with spaces
+copy to "new \"complicated\" filename"
+diff --git "a/existing \"complicated\" filename" b/new, simpler filename
+similarity index 100%
+copy from "existing \"complicated\" filename"
+copy to new, simpler filename