diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/api/PullCommandTest.java b/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/api/PullCommandTest.java
index 6a84f0a38..7a0ffdbec 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/api/PullCommandTest.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/api/PullCommandTest.java
@@ -378,44 +378,44 @@ public void testPullMergeProgrammaticConfigurationImpliedTargetBranch()
 	}
 
 	private enum TestPullMode {
-		MERGE, REBASE, REBASE_PREASERVE
+		MERGE, REBASE, REBASE_MERGES
 	}
 
 	@Test
 	/** global rebase config should be respected */
-	public void testPullWithRebasePreserve1Config() throws Exception {
+	public void testPullWithRebaseMerges1Config() throws Exception {
 		Callable<PullResult> setup = () -> {
 			StoredConfig config = dbTarget.getConfig();
-			config.setString("pull", null, "rebase", "preserve");
+			config.setString("pull", null, "rebase", "merges");
 			config.save();
 			return target.pull().call();
 		};
-		doTestPullWithRebase(setup, TestPullMode.REBASE_PREASERVE);
+		doTestPullWithRebase(setup, TestPullMode.REBASE_MERGES);
 	}
 
 	@Test
 	/** the branch-local config should win over the global config */
-	public void testPullWithRebasePreserveConfig2() throws Exception {
+	public void testPullWithRebaseMergesConfig2() throws Exception {
 		Callable<PullResult> setup = () -> {
 			StoredConfig config = dbTarget.getConfig();
 			config.setString("pull", null, "rebase", "false");
-			config.setString("branch", "master", "rebase", "preserve");
+			config.setString("branch", "master", "rebase", "merges");
 			config.save();
 			return target.pull().call();
 		};
-		doTestPullWithRebase(setup, TestPullMode.REBASE_PREASERVE);
+		doTestPullWithRebase(setup, TestPullMode.REBASE_MERGES);
 	}
 
 	@Test
 	/** the branch-local config should be respected */
-	public void testPullWithRebasePreserveConfig3() throws Exception {
+	public void testPullWithRebaseMergesConfig3() throws Exception {
 		Callable<PullResult> setup = () -> {
 			StoredConfig config = dbTarget.getConfig();
-			config.setString("branch", "master", "rebase", "preserve");
+			config.setString("branch", "master", "rebase", "merges");
 			config.save();
 			return target.pull().call();
 		};
-		doTestPullWithRebase(setup, TestPullMode.REBASE_PREASERVE);
+		doTestPullWithRebase(setup, TestPullMode.REBASE_MERGES);
 	}
 
 	@Test
@@ -435,7 +435,7 @@ public void testPullWithRebaseConfig1() throws Exception {
 	public void testPullWithRebaseConfig2() throws Exception {
 		Callable<PullResult> setup = () -> {
 			StoredConfig config = dbTarget.getConfig();
-			config.setString("pull", null, "rebase", "preserve");
+			config.setString("pull", null, "rebase", "merges");
 			config.setString("branch", "master", "rebase", "true");
 			config.save();
 			return target.pull().call();
@@ -543,7 +543,7 @@ private void doTestPullWithRebase(Callable<PullResult> pullSetup,
 				assertEquals(sourceCommit, next.getParent(1));
 				// since both parents are known do no further checks here
 			} else {
-				if (expectedPullMode == TestPullMode.REBASE_PREASERVE) {
+				if (expectedPullMode == TestPullMode.REBASE_MERGES) {
 					next = rw.next();
 					assertEquals(2, next.getParentCount());
 				}
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/api/PullCommand.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/api/PullCommand.java
index 281ecfd01..83ae0fc9d 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/api/PullCommand.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/api/PullCommand.java
@@ -137,8 +137,8 @@ public PullCommand setRebase(boolean useRebase) {
 	 * <dt>BranchRebaseMode.REBASE</dt>
 	 * <dd>Equivalent to {@code --rebase} on the command line: use rebase
 	 * instead of merge after fetching.</dd>
-	 * <dt>BranchRebaseMode.PRESERVE</dt>
-	 * <dd>Equivalent to {@code --preserve-merges} on the command line: rebase
+	 * <dt>BranchRebaseMode.MERGES</dt>
+	 * <dd>Equivalent to {@code --rebase-merges} on the command line: rebase
 	 * preserving local merge commits.</dd>
 	 * <dt>BranchRebaseMode.INTERACTIVE</dt>
 	 * <dd>Equivalent to {@code --interactive} on the command line: use
@@ -362,7 +362,7 @@ public PullResult call() throws GitAPIException,
 					.setStrategy(strategy)
 					.setContentMergeStrategy(contentStrategy)
 					.setPreserveMerges(
-							pullRebaseMode == BranchRebaseMode.PRESERVE)
+							pullRebaseMode == BranchRebaseMode.MERGES)
 					.call();
 			result = new PullResult(fetchRes, remote, rebaseRes);
 		} else {
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/api/RebaseCommand.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/api/RebaseCommand.java
index 4e0d9d78c..1e5523f27 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/api/RebaseCommand.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/api/RebaseCommand.java
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ public class RebaseCommand extends GitCommand<RebaseResult> {
 
 	/**
 	 * The folder containing the hashes of (potentially) rewritten commits when
-	 * --preserve-merges is used.
+	 * --rebase-merges is used.
 	 * <p>
 	 * Native git rebase --merge uses a <em>file</em> of that name to record
 	 * commits to copy notes at the end of the whole rebase.
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ public class RebaseCommand extends GitCommand<RebaseResult> {
 	private static final String REWRITTEN = "rewritten"; //$NON-NLS-1$
 
 	/**
-	 * File containing the current commit(s) to cherry pick when --preserve-merges
+	 * File containing the current commit(s) to cherry pick when --rebase-merges
 	 * is used.
 	 */
 	private static final String CURRENT_COMMIT = "current-commit"; //$NON-NLS-1$
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/BranchConfig.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/BranchConfig.java
index aa613d07e..19495dff1 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/BranchConfig.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/BranchConfig.java
@@ -30,8 +30,12 @@ public enum BranchRebaseMode implements Config.ConfigEnum {
 
 		/** Value for rebasing */
 		REBASE("true"), //$NON-NLS-1$
-		/** Value for rebasing preserving local merge commits */
-		PRESERVE("preserve"), //$NON-NLS-1$
+		/**
+		 * Value for rebasing preserving local merge commits
+		 *
+		 * @since 6.5 used instead of deprecated "preserve" option
+		 */
+		MERGES("merges"), //$NON-NLS-1$
 		/** Value for rebasing interactively */
 		INTERACTIVE("interactive"), //$NON-NLS-1$
 		/** Value for not rebasing at all but merging */