diff --git a/@commitlint/rules/package.json b/@commitlint/rules/package.json
index dc450eb291..f8686e284c 100644
--- a/@commitlint/rules/package.json
+++ b/@commitlint/rules/package.json
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@
     "@commitlint/ensure": "^12.1.1",
     "@commitlint/message": "^12.1.1",
     "@commitlint/to-lines": "^12.1.1",
-    "@commitlint/types": "^12.1.1"
+    "@commitlint/types": "^12.1.1",
+    "execa": "^5.0.0"
   },
   "gitHead": "70f7f4688b51774e7ac5e40e896cdaa3f132b2bc"
 }
diff --git a/@commitlint/rules/src/signed-off-by.test.ts b/@commitlint/rules/src/signed-off-by.test.ts
index 29fc665501..ba83237a49 100644
--- a/@commitlint/rules/src/signed-off-by.test.ts
+++ b/@commitlint/rules/src/signed-off-by.test.ts
@@ -3,15 +3,17 @@ import {signedOffBy} from './signed-off-by';
 
 const messages = {
 	empty: 'test:\n',
-	with: `test: subject\nbody\nfooter\nSigned-off-by:\n\n`,
-	without: `test: subject\nbody\nfooter\n\n`,
-	inSubject: `test: subject Signed-off-by:\nbody\nfooter\n\n`,
-	inBody: `test: subject\nbody Signed-off-by:\nfooter\n\n`,
-	withSignoffAndComments: `test: subject
+	with: `test: subject\n\nbody\n\nfooter\n\nSigned-off-by:\n\n`,
+	without: `test: subject\n\nbody\n\nfooter\n\n`,
+	inSubject: `test: subject Signed-off-by:\n\nbody\n\nfooter\n\n`,
+	inBody: `test: subject\n\nbody Signed-off-by:\n\nfooter\n\n`,
+	withSignoffAndNoise: `test: subject
 
 message body
 
+Arbitrary-trailer:
 Signed-off-by:
+Another-arbitrary-trailer:
 
 # Please enter the commit message for your changes. Lines starting
 # with '#' will be ignored, and an empty message aborts the commit.
@@ -24,7 +26,7 @@ const parsed = {
 	without: parse(messages.without),
 	inSubject: parse(messages.inSubject),
 	inBody: parse(messages.inBody),
-	withSignoffAndComments: parse(messages.withSignoffAndComments),
+	withSignoffAndNoise: parse(messages.withSignoffAndNoise),
 };
 
 test('empty against "always signed-off-by" should fail', async () => {
@@ -67,9 +69,9 @@ test('without against "never signed-off-by" should succeed', async () => {
 	expect(actual).toEqual(expected);
 });
 
-test('trailing comments should be ignored', async () => {
+test('comments and other trailers should be ignored', async () => {
 	const [actual] = signedOffBy(
-		await parsed.withSignoffAndComments,
+		await parsed.withSignoffAndNoise,
 		'always',
 		'Signed-off-by:'
 	);
diff --git a/@commitlint/rules/src/signed-off-by.ts b/@commitlint/rules/src/signed-off-by.ts
index 674a206197..d213b64e41 100644
--- a/@commitlint/rules/src/signed-off-by.ts
+++ b/@commitlint/rules/src/signed-off-by.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import execa from 'execa';
 import message from '@commitlint/message';
 import toLines from '@commitlint/to-lines';
 import {SyncRule} from '@commitlint/types';
@@ -7,18 +8,15 @@ export const signedOffBy: SyncRule<string> = (
 	when = 'always',
 	value = ''
 ) => {
-	const lines = toLines(parsed.raw).filter(
-		(ln) =>
-			// skip comments
-			!ln.startsWith('#') &&
-			// ignore empty lines
-			Boolean(ln)
-	);
+	const trailers = execa.sync('git', ['interpret-trailers', '--parse'], {
+		input: parsed.raw,
+	}).stdout;
 
-	const last = lines[lines.length - 1];
+	const signoffs = toLines(trailers).filter((ln) => ln.startsWith(value))
+		.length;
 
 	const negated = when === 'never';
-	const hasSignedOffBy = last.startsWith(value);
+	const hasSignedOffBy = signoffs > 0;
 
 	return [
 		negated ? !hasSignedOffBy : hasSignedOffBy,