Coding⏱️ 2 min read📅 2026-05-31

How to Fix: git apply fails with "patch does not apply" error

Git patch apply error fix

Quick Answer: The error means the patch file contains a line with an incorrect file type. Check the file type and correct it before applying the patch again.

When the `git apply --check` command fails with a 'patch does not apply' error, it usually occurs when there are differences in file permissions between the original codebase and the patch. The error message indicates that the patch is expecting the files to be executable (100755) but finds them non-executable (100644). This discrepancy prevents the patch from applying successfully.

🔍 Why This Happens

  • The patch may have been created on a system with different file permissions settings, leading to incompatibility.

🚀 How to Resolve This Issue

Method 1: Applying with File Permissions Corrected

  1. Step 1: Change the file permissions of the affected files to match the expected value (100755) using the `chmod` command.

Method 2: Using `git apply --allow-subst` with Corrected Permissions

  1. Step 1: Apply the patch using `git apply --check` and then use `git apply --allow-subst` to reapply the patch with corrected permissions.

💡 Conclusion

To resolve the 'patch does not apply' error when using `git apply --check`, ensure that file permissions are corrected to match the expected value. You can do this by changing the permissions or applying the patch with `--allow-subst` option.

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