diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 94bccb729dd..41973a79057 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ v 8.12.0 (unreleased)
   - Fix pagination on user snippets page
   - Escape search term before passing it to Regexp.new !6241 (winniehell)
   - Fix pinned sidebar behavior in smaller viewports !6169
+  - Fix file permissions change when updating a file on the Gitlab UI !5979
   - Change merge_error column from string to text type
   - Reduce contributions calendar data payload (ClemMakesApps)
   - Add `web_url` field to issue, merge request, and snippet API objects (Ben Boeckel)
diff --git a/app/controllers/concerns/creates_commit.rb b/app/controllers/concerns/creates_commit.rb
index f2b8f297bc2..dacb5679dd3 100644
--- a/app/controllers/concerns/creates_commit.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/concerns/creates_commit.rb
@@ -7,8 +7,7 @@ module CreatesCommit
     commit_params = @commit_params.merge(
       source_project: @project,
       source_branch: @ref,
-      target_branch: @target_branch,
-      previous_path: @previous_path
+      target_branch: @target_branch
     )
 
     result = service.new(@tree_edit_project, current_user, commit_params).execute
diff --git a/app/controllers/projects/blob_controller.rb b/app/controllers/projects/blob_controller.rb
index cdf9a04bacf..b78cc6585ba 100644
--- a/app/controllers/projects/blob_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/projects/blob_controller.rb
@@ -38,12 +38,7 @@ class Projects::BlobController < Projects::ApplicationController
   end
 
   def update
-    if params[:file_path].present?
-      @previous_path = @path
-      @path = params[:file_path]
-      @commit_params[:file_path] = @path
-    end
-
+    @path = params[:file_path] if params[:file_path].present?
     after_edit_path =
       if from_merge_request && @target_branch == @ref
         diffs_namespace_project_merge_request_path(from_merge_request.target_project.namespace, from_merge_request.target_project, from_merge_request) +
@@ -143,6 +138,8 @@ class Projects::BlobController < Projects::ApplicationController
           params[:file_name] = params[:file].original_filename
         end
         File.join(@path, params[:file_name])
+      elsif params[:file_path].present?
+        params[:file_path]
       else
         @path
       end
@@ -155,6 +152,7 @@ class Projects::BlobController < Projects::ApplicationController
     @commit_params = {
       file_path: @file_path,
       commit_message: params[:commit_message],
+      previous_path: @path,
       file_content: params[:content],
       file_content_encoding: params[:encoding],
       last_commit_sha: params[:last_commit_sha]
diff --git a/app/models/repository.rb b/app/models/repository.rb
index 7b7090b8a73..37fbdcfe1c6 100644
--- a/app/models/repository.rb
+++ b/app/models/repository.rb
@@ -813,7 +813,7 @@ class Repository
         update: true
       }
 
-      if previous_path
+      unless previous_path == path || previous_path.blank?
         options[:file][:previous_path] = previous_path
         Gitlab::Git::Blob.rename(raw_repository, options)
       else