diff --git a/lisp/cli/ci.el b/lisp/cli/ci.el
index e5a19c237..a9977e8e8 100644
--- a/lisp/cli/ci.el
+++ b/lisp/cli/ci.el
@@ -320,7 +320,8 @@ Lints the current commit message."
           (point-min)
           (if (re-search-forward "^# Please enter the commit message" nil t)
               (match-beginning 0)
-            (point-max))))))))
+            (point-max)))))
+     t)))
 
 ;; TODO Move to 'doom lint hook:pre-push'
 (defcli! (ci hook pre-push) (remote url)
@@ -421,10 +422,15 @@ Prevents pushing if there are unrebased or WIP commits."
                        (match-string 2)))))
         (cl-sort (delete-dups packages) #'string-lessp :key #'car)))))
 
-(defun doom-ci--lint (commits)
+(defun doom-ci--lint (commits &optional echo-msg)
+  "lint commit messages in the given COMMITS alist (mapping ref -> message).
+
+print the original message again when ECHO-MSG is non-nil."
   (let ((warnings 0)
         (failures 0))
-    (print! (start "Linting %d commits" (length commits)))
+    (if (= (length commits) 1)
+        (print! (start "Linting commit..."))
+      (print! (start "Linting %d commits..." (length commits))))
     (print-group!
       (pcase-dolist (`(,ref . ,commitmsg) commits)
         (let* ((commit   (doom-ci--parse-commit commitmsg))
@@ -451,6 +457,12 @@ Prevents pushing if there are unrebased or WIP commits."
         (if (> failures 0) (print! (warn "Failures: %d" failures)))
         (print! "\nSee https://discourse.doomemacs.org/git-conventions")
         (unless (zerop failures)
+          (when echo-msg
+            (print! "\nPlease adjust your previous attempt:")
+            (pcase-dolist (`(,ref . ,commitmsg) commits)
+              (when (not (string= ref "CURRENT"))
+                (print! "\n%s\n" ref))
+              (print! "%s" commitmsg)))
           (exit! 1)))
       t)))