diff --git a/@commitlint/cli/fixtures/comment-char/commitlint.config.js b/@commitlint/cli/fixtures/comment-char/commitlint.config.js
index 2292580640..98ea1686e0 100644
--- a/@commitlint/cli/fixtures/comment-char/commitlint.config.js
+++ b/@commitlint/cli/fixtures/comment-char/commitlint.config.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 module.exports = {
 	rules: {
-		'subject-empty': [2, 'never']
+		'body-empty': [2, 'never']
 	},
 	parserPreset: {
         parserOpts: {
diff --git a/@commitlint/cli/package.json b/@commitlint/cli/package.json
index a7d95c50b6..ddc77537bc 100644
--- a/@commitlint/cli/package.json
+++ b/@commitlint/cli/package.json
@@ -41,7 +41,6 @@
     "@commitlint/utils": "^17.0.0",
     "@types/node": "12.20.52",
     "@types/yargs": "^17.0.0",
-    "execa": "^5.0.0",
     "fs-extra": "^10.0.0"
   },
   "dependencies": {
@@ -50,6 +49,7 @@
     "@commitlint/load": "^17.0.0",
     "@commitlint/read": "^17.0.0",
     "@commitlint/types": "^17.0.0",
+    "execa": "^5.0.0",
     "lodash": "^4.17.19",
     "resolve-from": "5.0.0",
     "resolve-global": "1.0.0",
diff --git a/@commitlint/cli/src/cli.test.ts b/@commitlint/cli/src/cli.test.ts
index 324c55e409..9f628f4d58 100644
--- a/@commitlint/cli/src/cli.test.ts
+++ b/@commitlint/cli/src/cli.test.ts
@@ -329,13 +329,50 @@ test('should handle --amend with signoff', async () => {
 	expect(commit).toBeTruthy();
 }, 10000);
 
-test('should fail with an empty message and a commentChar is set', async () => {
+test('it uses parserOpts.commentChar when not using edit mode', async () => {
+	const cwd = await gitBootstrap('fixtures/comment-char');
+	const input = 'header: foo\n$body\n';
+
+	const actual = await cli([], {cwd})(input);
+	expect(actual.stdout).toContain('[body-empty]');
+	expect(actual.exitCode).toBe(1);
+});
+
+test("it doesn't use parserOpts.commentChar when using edit mode", async () => {
+	const cwd = await gitBootstrap('fixtures/comment-char');
+	await fs.writeFile(
+		path.join(cwd, '.git', 'COMMIT_EDITMSG'),
+		'header: foo\n\n$body\n'
+	);
+
+	const actual = await cli(['--edit', '.git/COMMIT_EDITMSG'], {cwd})();
+	expect(actual.stdout).not.toContain('[body-empty]');
+	expect(actual.exitCode).toBe(0);
+});
+
+test('it uses core.commentChar git config when using edit mode', async () => {
 	const cwd = await gitBootstrap('fixtures/comment-char');
 	await execa('git', ['config', '--local', 'core.commentChar', '$'], {cwd});
-	await fs.writeFile(path.join(cwd, '.git', 'COMMIT_EDITMSG'), '#1234');
+	await fs.writeFile(
+		path.join(cwd, '.git', 'COMMIT_EDITMSG'),
+		'header: foo\n\n$body\n'
+	);
+
+	const actual = await cli(['--edit', '.git/COMMIT_EDITMSG'], {cwd})();
+	expect(actual.stdout).toContain('[body-empty]');
+	expect(actual.exitCode).toBe(1);
+});
+
+test('it falls back to # for core.commentChar when using edit mode', async () => {
+	const cwd = await gitBootstrap('fixtures/comment-char');
+	await fs.writeFile(
+		path.join(cwd, '.git', 'COMMIT_EDITMSG'),
+		'header: foo\n\n#body\n'
+	);
 
 	const actual = await cli(['--edit', '.git/COMMIT_EDITMSG'], {cwd})();
-	expect(actual.stdout).toContain('[subject-empty]');
+	expect(actual.stdout).toContain('[body-empty]');
+	expect(actual.stderr).toEqual('');
 	expect(actual.exitCode).toBe(1);
 });
 
diff --git a/@commitlint/cli/src/cli.ts b/@commitlint/cli/src/cli.ts
index e95d31536a..4f9fd5bd21 100644
--- a/@commitlint/cli/src/cli.ts
+++ b/@commitlint/cli/src/cli.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import execa, {ExecaError} from 'execa';
 import load from '@commitlint/load';
 import lint from '@commitlint/lint';
 import read from '@commitlint/read';
@@ -21,6 +22,8 @@ import {CliError} from './cli-error';
 
 const pkg = require('../package');
 
+const gitDefaultCommentChar = '#';
+
 const cli = yargs
 	.options({
 		color: {
@@ -221,11 +224,24 @@ async function main(args: MainArgs) {
 	}
 	const format = loadFormatter(loaded, flags);
 
-	// Strip comments if reading from `.git/COMMIT_EDIT_MSG` using the
-	// commentChar from the parser preset falling back to a `#` if that is not
-	// set
-	if (flags.edit && typeof opts.parserOpts.commentChar !== 'string') {
-		opts.parserOpts.commentChar = '#';
+	// If reading from `.git/COMMIT_EDIT_MSG`, strip comments using
+	// core.commentChar from git configuration, falling back to '#'.
+	if (flags.edit) {
+		try {
+			const {stdout} = await execa('git', ['config', 'core.commentChar']);
+			opts.parserOpts.commentChar = stdout.trim() || gitDefaultCommentChar;
+		} catch (e) {
+			const execaError = e as ExecaError;
+			// git config returns exit code 1 when the setting is unset,
+			// don't warn in this case.
+			if (!execaError.failed || execaError.exitCode !== 1) {
+				console.warn(
+					'Could not determine core.commentChar git configuration',
+					e
+				);
+			}
+			opts.parserOpts.commentChar = gitDefaultCommentChar;
+		}
 	}
 
 	const results = await Promise.all(
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index c529210375..dc58ad41aa 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@
     "publish": "lerna publish --conventional-commits",
     "reinstall": "yarn clean && yarn install",
     "start": "yarn watch",
-    "test": "jest",
-    "test-ci": "jest --runInBand",
+    "test": "cross-env HOME=$PWD jest",
+    "test-ci": "cross-env HOME=$PWD jest --runInBand",
     "postinstall": "yarn husky install"
   },
   "commitlint": {
@@ -90,6 +90,7 @@
     "@types/node": "^12.20.27",
     "@typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin": "^5.0.0",
     "@typescript-eslint/parser": "^5.0.0",
+    "cross-env": "^7.0.3",
     "docsify-cli": "^4.4.3",
     "eslint": "^8.0.0",
     "eslint-config-prettier": "^8.0.0",
@@ -106,4 +107,4 @@
   "resolutions": {
     "**/lodash": "^4.17.19"
   }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 199b7b8a08..411bb83369 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -3915,7 +3915,14 @@ create-require@^1.1.0:
   resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/create-require/-/create-require-1.1.1.tgz#c1d7e8f1e5f6cfc9ff65f9cd352d37348756c333"
   integrity sha512-dcKFX3jn0MpIaXjisoRvexIJVEKzaq7z2rZKxf+MSr9TkdmHmsU4m2lcLojrj/FHl8mk5VxMmYA+ftRkP/3oKQ==
 
-cross-spawn@^7.0.2, cross-spawn@^7.0.3:
+cross-env@^7.0.3:
+  version "7.0.3"
+  resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/cross-env/-/cross-env-7.0.3.tgz#865264b29677dc015ba8418918965dd232fc54cf"
+  integrity sha512-+/HKd6EgcQCJGh2PSjZuUitQBQynKor4wrFbRg4DtAgS1aWO+gU52xpH7M9ScGgXSYmAVS9bIJ8EzuaGw0oNAw==
+  dependencies:
+    cross-spawn "^7.0.1"
+
+cross-spawn@^7.0.1, cross-spawn@^7.0.2, cross-spawn@^7.0.3:
   version "7.0.3"
   resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/cross-spawn/-/cross-spawn-7.0.3.tgz#f73a85b9d5d41d045551c177e2882d4ac85728a6"
   integrity sha512-iRDPJKUPVEND7dHPO8rkbOnPpyDygcDFtWjpeWNCgy8WP2rXcxXL8TskReQl6OrB2G7+UJrags1q15Fudc7G6w==