diff --git a/src/commits.js b/src/commits.js
index fce76be4..7df4fbe3 100644
--- a/src/commits.js
+++ b/src/commits.js
@@ -36,12 +36,6 @@ function parseCommits (string, remote, options = {}) {
     .split(COMMIT_SEPARATOR)
     .slice(1)
     .map(commit => parseCommit(commit, remote, options))
-    .filter(commit => {
-      if (options.ignoreCommitPattern) {
-        return new RegExp(options.ignoreCommitPattern).test(commit.subject) === false
-      }
-      return true
-    })
 
   if (options.startingCommit) {
     const index = commits.findIndex(c => c.hash.indexOf(options.startingCommit) === 0)
diff --git a/src/releases.js b/src/releases.js
index db8430f0..653da537 100644
--- a/src/releases.js
+++ b/src/releases.js
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ export function parseReleases (commits, remote, latestVersion, options) {
         fixes: commit.fixes,
         commit
       })
-    } else if (filterCommit(commit, release, options.commitLimit)) {
+    } else if (filterCommit(commit, options, release)) {
       release.commits.push(commit)
     }
   }
@@ -76,10 +76,24 @@ function newRelease (tag = null, date = new Date().toISOString(), summary = null
   }
 }
 
-function filterCommit (commit, release, limit) {
+function sliceCommits (commits, { commitLimit, backfillLimit }, release) {
+  if (commitLimit === false) {
+    return commits
+  }
+  const emptyRelease = release.fixes.length === 0 && release.merges.length === 0
+  const limit = emptyRelease ? backfillLimit : commitLimit
+  const minLimit = commits.filter(c => c.breaking).length
+  return commits.slice(0, Math.max(minLimit, limit))
+}
+
+function filterCommit (commit, { ignoreCommitPattern }, release) {
   if (commit.breaking) {
     return true
   }
+  if (ignoreCommitPattern) {
+    // Filter out commits that match ignoreCommitPattern
+    return new RegExp(ignoreCommitPattern).test(commit.subject) === false
+  }
   if (semver.valid(commit.subject)) {
     // Filter out version commits
     return false
@@ -126,13 +140,3 @@ function commitSorter ({ sortCommits }) {
     return (b.insertions + b.deletions) - (a.insertions + a.deletions)
   }
 }
-
-function sliceCommits (commits, options, release) {
-  if (options.commitLimit === false) {
-    return commits
-  }
-  const emptyRelease = release.fixes.length === 0 && release.merges.length === 0
-  const limit = emptyRelease ? options.backfillLimit : options.commitLimit
-  const minLimit = commits.filter(c => c.breaking).length
-  return commits.slice(0, Math.max(minLimit, limit))
-}
diff --git a/test/commits.js b/test/commits.js
index 10ec5df8..e1e09f04 100644
--- a/test/commits.js
+++ b/test/commits.js
@@ -54,14 +54,6 @@ describe('parseCommits', () => {
     expect(parseCommits(gitLog, remotes.github, options)).to.have.length(10)
   })
 
-  it('supports ignoreCommitPattern option', async () => {
-    const gitLog = await readFile(join(__dirname, 'data', 'git-log.txt'))
-    const options = { ignoreCommitPattern: 'Second commit' }
-    const result = parseCommits(gitLog, remotes.github, options)
-    expect(result).to.have.length(commits.length - 1)
-    expect(JSON.stringify(result)).to.not.contain('Second commit')
-  })
-
   it('supports breakingPattern option', async () => {
     const gitLog = await readFile(join(__dirname, 'data', 'git-log.txt'))
     const options = { breakingPattern: 'Some breaking change' }
diff --git a/test/releases.js b/test/releases.js
index 4f63b534..e77e5424 100644
--- a/test/releases.js
+++ b/test/releases.js
@@ -87,6 +87,13 @@ describe('parseReleases', () => {
       '2015-12-29T21:57:19.000Z'
     ])
   })
+
+  it('supports ignoreCommitPattern option', () => {
+    const options = { ignoreCommitPattern: 'Some breaking change' }
+    const result = parseReleases(commits, remotes.github, null, options)
+    expect(result).to.have.length(4)
+    expect(JSON.stringify(result)).to.not.contain('Some breaking change')
+  })
 })
 
 describe('sortReleases', () => {