diff --git a/src/actions/mediaLibrary.js b/src/actions/mediaLibrary.js
index 8f4c129b573b..64acfdfd116b 100644
--- a/src/actions/mediaLibrary.js
+++ b/src/actions/mediaLibrary.js
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ export function persistMedia(file, opts = {}) {
       const assetProxy = await createAssetProxy(fileName, file, false, privateUpload);
       dispatch(addAsset(assetProxy));
       if (!integration) {
-        const asset = await backend.persistMedia(assetProxy);
+        const asset = await backend.persistMedia(state.config, assetProxy);
         return dispatch(mediaPersisted(asset));
       }
       return dispatch(mediaPersisted(assetProxy.asset, { privateUpload }));
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ export function deleteMedia(file, opts = {}) {
         });
     }
     dispatch(mediaDeleting());
-    return backend.deleteMedia(file.path)
+    return backend.deleteMedia(state.config, file.path)
       .then(() => {
         return dispatch(mediaDeleted(file));
       })
diff --git a/src/backends/backend.js b/src/backends/backend.js
index e06430c03f29..461c52f83cc9 100644
--- a/src/backends/backend.js
+++ b/src/backends/backend.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { attempt, isError } from 'lodash';
+import { Map } from 'immutable';
 import { resolveFormat } from "Formats/formats";
 import { selectIntegration } from 'Reducers/integrations';
 import {
@@ -93,6 +94,32 @@ const slugFormatter = (template = "{{slug}}", entryData, slugConfig) => {
   return sanitizeSlug(slug, slugConfig);
 };
 
+const commitMessageTemplates = Map({
+  create: 'Create {{collection}} “{{slug}}”',
+  update: 'Update {{collection}} “{{slug}}”',
+  delete: 'Delete {{collection}} “{{slug}}”',
+  uploadMedia: 'Upload “{{path}}”',
+  deleteMedia: 'Delete “{{path}}”'
+});
+
+const commitMessageFormatter = (type, config, { slug, path, collection }) => {
+  const templates = commitMessageTemplates.merge(config.getIn(['backend', 'commit_messages'], Map()));
+  const messageTemplate = templates.get(type);
+  return messageTemplate.replace(/\{\{([^\}]+)\}\}/g, (_, variable) => {
+    switch (variable) {
+      case 'slug':
+        return slug;
+      case 'path':
+        return path;
+      case 'collection':
+        return collection.get('label');
+      default:
+        console.warn(`Ignoring unknown variable “${ variable }” in commit message template.`);
+        return '';
+    }
+  });
+}
+
 class Backend {
   constructor(implementation, backendName, authStore = null) {
     this.implementation = implementation;
@@ -304,8 +331,7 @@ in the ${collection.get('name')} collection.\
       };
     }
 
-    const commitMessage = `${ (newEntry ? "Create " : "Update ") +
-          collection.get("label") } “${ entryObj.slug }”`;
+    const commitMessage = commitMessageFormatter(newEntry ? 'create' : 'update', config, { collection, slug: entryObj.slug, path: entryObj.path });
 
     const mode = config.get("publish_mode");
 
@@ -322,9 +348,9 @@ in the ${collection.get('name')} collection.\
       .then(() => entryObj.slug);
   }
 
-  persistMedia(file) {
+  persistMedia(config, file) {
     const options = {
-      commitMessage: `Upload ${file.path}`,
+      commitMessage: commitMessageFormatter('uploadMedia', config, { path: file.path }),
     };
     return this.implementation.persistMedia(file, options);
   }
@@ -336,12 +362,12 @@ in the ${collection.get('name')} collection.\
       throw (new Error("Not allowed to delete entries in this collection"));
     }
 
-    const commitMessage = `Delete ${ collection.get('label') } “${ slug }”`;
+    const commitMessage = commitMessageFormatter('delete', config, { collection, slug, path });
     return this.implementation.deleteFile(path, commitMessage);
   }
 
-  deleteMedia(path) {
-    const commitMessage = `Delete ${path}`;
+  deleteMedia(config, path) {
+    const commitMessage = commitMessageFormatter('deleteMedia', config, { path });
     return this.implementation.deleteFile(path, commitMessage);
   }
 
diff --git a/website/site/content/docs/beta-features.md b/website/site/content/docs/beta-features.md
index 292d0025bbe4..b0cb86af1633 100644
--- a/website/site/content/docs/beta-features.md
+++ b/website/site/content/docs/beta-features.md
@@ -91,3 +91,37 @@ To enable this feature, you can set the following option in your `config.yml`:
 backend:
   squash_merges: true
 ```
+## Commit Message Templates
+You can customize the templates used by Netlify CMS to generate commit messages by setting the `commit_messages` option under `backend` in your `config.yml`.
+
+Template tags wrapped in curly braces will be expanded to include information about the file changed by the commit. For example, `{{path}}` will include the full path to the file changed.
+
+Setting up your `config.yml` to recreate the default values would look like this:
+
+```yaml
+backend:
+  commit_messages:
+    create: Create {{collection}} “{{slug}}”
+    update: Update {{collection}} “{{slug}}”
+    delete: Delete {{collection}} “{{slug}}”
+    uploadMedia: Upload “{{path}}”
+    deleteMedia: Delete “{{path}}”
+```
+
+Netlify CMS generates the following commit types:
+
+Commit type   | When is it triggered?        | Available template tags
+--------------|------------------------------|-----------------------------
+`create`      | A new entry is created       | `slug`, `path`, `collection`
+`update`      | An existing entry is changed | `slug`, `path`, `collection`
+`delete`      | An exising entry is deleted  | `slug`, `path`, `collection`
+`uploadMedia` | A media file is uploaded     | `path`
+`deleteMedia` | A media file is deleted      | `path`
+
+Template tags produce the following output:
+
+- `{{slug}}`: the url-safe filename of the entry changed
+
+- `{{collection}}`: the name of the collection containing the entry changed
+
+- `{{path}}`: the full path to the file changed