diff --git a/.github/workflows/commit_formatting.yml b/.github/workflows/commit_formatting.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a651f8a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/commit_formatting.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+name: Check commit message formatting
+
+on: [push, pull_request]
+
+concurrency:
+  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      with:
+        fetch-depth: '100'
+    - uses: actions/setup-python@v4
+    - name: Check commit message formatting
+      run: source tools/ci.sh && ci_commit_formatting_run
diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index 553b2738..bfce6a24 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -5,6 +5,12 @@ repos:
         name: MicroPython codeformat.py for changed files
         entry: tools/codeformat.py -v -f
         language: python
+      - id: verifygitlog
+        name: MicroPython git commit message format checker
+        entry: tools/verifygitlog.py --check-file --ignore-rebase
+        language: python
+        verbose: true
+        stages: [commit-msg]
   - repo: https://github.com/charliermarsh/ruff-pre-commit
     rev: v0.1.0
     hooks:
diff --git a/tools/ci.sh b/tools/ci.sh
index 81ec641f..13989478 100755
--- a/tools/ci.sh
+++ b/tools/ci.sh
@@ -15,6 +15,18 @@ function ci_code_formatting_run {
     tools/codeformat.py -v
 }
 
+########################################################################################
+# commit formatting
+
+function ci_commit_formatting_run {
+    git remote add upstream https://github.com/micropython/micropython-lib.git
+    git fetch --depth=100 upstream master
+    # If the common ancestor commit hasn't been found, fetch more.
+    git merge-base upstream/master HEAD || git fetch --unshallow upstream master
+    # For a PR, upstream/master..HEAD ends with a merge commit into master, exclude that one.
+    tools/verifygitlog.py -v upstream/master..HEAD --no-merges
+}
+
 ########################################################################################
 # build packages
 
diff --git a/tools/verifygitlog.py b/tools/verifygitlog.py
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..20be794f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/verifygitlog.py
@@ -0,0 +1,173 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+# This is an exact duplicate of verifygitlog.py from the main repo.
+
+import re
+import subprocess
+import sys
+
+verbosity = 0  # Show what's going on, 0 1 or 2.
+suggestions = 1  # Set to 0 to not include lengthy suggestions in error messages.
+
+ignore_prefixes = []
+
+
+def verbose(*args):
+    if verbosity:
+        print(*args)
+
+
+def very_verbose(*args):
+    if verbosity > 1:
+        print(*args)
+
+
+class ErrorCollection:
+    # Track errors and warnings as the program runs
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.has_errors = False
+        self.has_warnings = False
+        self.prefix = ""
+
+    def error(self, text):
+        print("error: {}{}".format(self.prefix, text))
+        self.has_errors = True
+
+    def warning(self, text):
+        print("warning: {}{}".format(self.prefix, text))
+        self.has_warnings = True
+
+
+def git_log(pretty_format, *args):
+    # Delete pretty argument from user args so it doesn't interfere with what we do.
+    args = ["git", "log"] + [arg for arg in args if "--pretty" not in args]
+    args.append("--pretty=format:" + pretty_format)
+    very_verbose("git_log", *args)
+    # Generator yielding each output line.
+    for line in subprocess.Popen(args, stdout=subprocess.PIPE).stdout:
+        yield line.decode().rstrip("\r\n")
+
+
+def diagnose_subject_line(subject_line, subject_line_format, err):
+    err.error("Subject line: " + subject_line)
+    if not subject_line.endswith("."):
+        err.error('* must end with "."')
+    if not re.match(r"^[^!]+: ", subject_line):
+        err.error('* must start with "path: "')
+    if re.match(r"^[^!]+: *$", subject_line):
+        err.error("* must contain a subject after the path.")
+    m = re.match(r"^[^!]+: ([a-z][^ ]*)", subject_line)
+    if m:
+        err.error('* first word of subject ("{}") must be capitalised.'.format(m.group(1)))
+    if re.match(r"^[^!]+: [^ ]+$", subject_line):
+        err.error("* subject must contain more than one word.")
+    err.error("* must match: " + repr(subject_line_format))
+    err.error('* Example: "py/runtime: Add support for foo to bar."')
+
+
+def verify(sha, err):
+    verbose("verify", sha)
+    err.prefix = "commit " + sha + ": "
+
+    # Author and committer email.
+    for line in git_log("%ae%n%ce", sha, "-n1"):
+        very_verbose("email", line)
+        if "noreply" in line:
+            err.error("Unwanted email address: " + line)
+
+    # Message body.
+    raw_body = list(git_log("%B", sha, "-n1"))
+    verify_message_body(raw_body, err)
+
+
+def verify_message_body(raw_body, err):
+    if not raw_body:
+        err.error("Message is empty")
+        return
+
+    # Subject line.
+    subject_line = raw_body[0]
+    for prefix in ignore_prefixes:
+        if subject_line.startswith(prefix):
+            verbose("Skipping ignored commit message")
+            return
+    very_verbose("subject_line", subject_line)
+    subject_line_format = r"^[^!]+: [A-Z]+.+ .+\.$"
+    if not re.match(subject_line_format, subject_line):
+        diagnose_subject_line(subject_line, subject_line_format, err)
+    if len(subject_line) >= 73:
+        err.error("Subject line must be 72 or fewer characters: " + subject_line)
+
+    # Second one divides subject and body.
+    if len(raw_body) > 1 and raw_body[1]:
+        err.error("Second message line must be empty: " + raw_body[1])
+
+    # Message body lines.
+    for line in raw_body[2:]:
+        # Long lines with URLs are exempt from the line length rule.
+        if len(line) >= 76 and "://" not in line:
+            err.error("Message lines should be 75 or less characters: " + line)
+
+    if not raw_body[-1].startswith("Signed-off-by: ") or "@" not in raw_body[-1]:
+        err.error('Message must be signed-off. Use "git commit -s".')
+
+
+def run(args):
+    verbose("run", *args)
+
+    err = ErrorCollection()
+
+    if "--check-file" in args:
+        filename = args[-1]
+        verbose("checking commit message from", filename)
+        with open(args[-1]) as f:
+            # Remove comment lines as well as any empty lines at the end.
+            lines = [line.rstrip("\r\n") for line in f if not line.startswith("#")]
+            while not lines[-1]:
+                lines.pop()
+            verify_message_body(lines, err)
+    else:  # Normal operation, pass arguments to git log
+        for sha in git_log("%h", *args):
+            verify(sha, err)
+
+    if err.has_errors or err.has_warnings:
+        if suggestions:
+            print("See https://github.com/micropython/micropython/blob/master/CODECONVENTIONS.md")
+    else:
+        print("ok")
+    if err.has_errors:
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+
+def show_help():
+    print("usage: verifygitlog.py [-v -n -h --check-file] ...")
+    print("-v  : increase verbosity, can be specified multiple times")
+    print("-n  : do not print multi-line suggestions")
+    print("-h  : print this help message and exit")
+    print(
+        "--check-file : Pass a single argument which is a file containing a candidate commit message"
+    )
+    print(
+        "--ignore-rebase : Skip checking commits with git rebase autosquash prefixes or WIP as a prefix"
+    )
+    print("... : arguments passed to git log to retrieve commits to verify")
+    print("      see https://www.git-scm.com/docs/git-log")
+    print("      passing no arguments at all will verify all commits")
+    print("examples:")
+    print("verifygitlog.py -n10  # Check last 10 commits")
+    print("verifygitlog.py -v master..HEAD  # Check commits since master")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    args = sys.argv[1:]
+    verbosity = args.count("-v")
+    suggestions = args.count("-n") == 0
+    if "--ignore-rebase" in args:
+        args.remove("--ignore-rebase")
+        ignore_prefixes = ["squash!", "fixup!", "amend!", "WIP"]
+
+    if "-h" in args:
+        show_help()
+    else:
+        args = [arg for arg in args if arg not in ["-v", "-n", "-h"]]
+        run(args)