diff --git a/src/templater.rs b/src/templater.rs
index f19b15c44..c2ffec9b3 100644
--- a/src/templater.rs
+++ b/src/templater.rs
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ use std::io;
 use jujutsu_lib::backend::{Signature, Timestamp};
 
 use crate::formatter::{FormatRecorder, Formatter, PlainTextFormatter};
-use crate::time_util;
+use crate::{text_util, time_util};
 
 pub trait Template<C> {
     fn format(&self, context: &C, formatter: &mut dyn Formatter) -> io::Result<()>;
@@ -139,18 +139,14 @@ where
     fn format(&self, context: &C, formatter: &mut dyn Formatter) -> io::Result<()> {
         let mut recorder = FormatRecorder::new();
         self.content.format(context, &mut recorder)?;
-        let mut new_line = true;
-        recorder.replay_with(formatter, |formatter, data| {
-            for line in data.split_inclusive(|&c| c == b'\n') {
-                if new_line && line != b"\n" {
-                    // Prefix inherits the current labels. This is implementation detail
-                    // and may be fixed later.
-                    self.prefix.format(context, formatter)?;
-                }
-                formatter.write_all(line)?;
-                new_line = line.ends_with(b"\n");
-            }
-            Ok(())
+        text_util::write_indented(formatter, &recorder, |formatter| {
+            // If Template::format() returned a custom error type, we would need to
+            // handle template evaluation error out of this closure:
+            //   prefix.format(context, &mut prefix_recorder)?;
+            //   write_indented(formatter, recorded, |formatter| {
+            //       prefix_recorder.replay(formatter)
+            //   })
+            self.prefix.format(context, formatter)
         })
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/text_util.rs b/src/text_util.rs
index 6d4e5ff2e..41ee89d6b 100644
--- a/src/text_util.rs
+++ b/src/text_util.rs
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
+use std::io;
+
+use crate::formatter::{FormatRecorder, Formatter};
+
 pub fn complete_newline(s: impl Into<String>) -> String {
     let mut s = s.into();
     if !s.is_empty() && !s.ends_with('\n') {
@@ -19,3 +23,24 @@ pub fn complete_newline(s: impl Into<String>) -> String {
     }
     s
 }
+
+/// Indents each line by the given prefix preserving labels.
+pub fn write_indented(
+    formatter: &mut dyn Formatter,
+    recorded_content: &FormatRecorder,
+    mut write_prefix: impl FnMut(&mut dyn Formatter) -> io::Result<()>,
+) -> io::Result<()> {
+    let mut new_line = true;
+    recorded_content.replay_with(formatter, |formatter, data| {
+        for line in data.split_inclusive(|&c| c == b'\n') {
+            if new_line && line != b"\n" {
+                // Prefix inherits the current labels. This is implementation detail
+                // and may be fixed later.
+                write_prefix(formatter)?;
+            }
+            formatter.write_all(line)?;
+            new_line = line.ends_with(b"\n");
+        }
+        Ok(())
+    })
+}