diff --git a/pkg/gui/gui.go b/pkg/gui/gui.go
index 803980c50..34da4c8af 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/gui.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/gui.go
@@ -666,7 +666,7 @@ func (gui *Gui) resetState(startArgs appTypes.StartArgs) types.Context {
 
 	gui.applySidePanelConfig()
 
-	return initialContext(contextTree, startArgs)
+	return initialContext(contextTree, startArgs, gui.git.Bisect.GetInfo().Started())
 }
 
 func (gui *Gui) loadCachedPullRequests() []*models.GithubPullRequest {
@@ -754,7 +754,7 @@ func parseScreenModeArg(screenModeArg string) types.ScreenMode {
 	}
 }
 
-func initialContext(contextTree *context.ContextTree, startArgs appTypes.StartArgs) types.IListContext {
+func initialContext(contextTree *context.ContextTree, startArgs appTypes.StartArgs, bisectStarted bool) types.IListContext {
 	var initialContext types.IListContext = contextTree.Files
 
 	if startArgs.FilterPath != "" {
@@ -772,6 +772,10 @@ func initialContext(contextTree *context.ContextTree, startArgs appTypes.StartAr
 		default:
 			panic("unhandled git arg")
 		}
+	} else if bisectStarted {
+		// The commits panel shows how far the bisect has got, and the user
+		// marks the commits to test there
+		initialContext = contextTree.LocalCommits
 	}
 
 	return initialContext
diff --git a/pkg/integration/tests/bisect/start_in_commits_panel.go b/pkg/integration/tests/bisect/start_in_commits_panel.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..62825e753
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/integration/tests/bisect/start_in_commits_panel.go
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+package bisect
+
+import (
+	"github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/config"
+	. "github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/integration/components"
+)
+
+var StartInCommitsPanel = NewIntegrationTest(NewIntegrationTestArgs{
+	Description:  "Focus the commits panel at startup when a bisect is in progress",
+	ExtraCmdArgs: []string{},
+	Skip:         false,
+	SetupRepo: func(shell *Shell) {
+		shell.
+			CreateNCommits(3).
+			// The bisect is in progress, although git knows only a bad commit
+			// so far
+			RunCommand([]string{"git", "bisect", "start"}).
+			RunCommand([]string{"git", "bisect", "bad"})
+	},
+	SetupConfig: func(cfg *config.AppConfig) {
+		cfg.GetUserConfig().Git.Log.ShowGraph = "never"
+	},
+	Run: func(t *TestDriver, keys config.KeybindingConfig) {
+		t.Views().Commits().
+			IsFocused().
+			Lines(
+				Contains("CI commit-03").Contains("<-- bad").IsSelected(),
+				Contains("CI commit-02"),
+				Contains("CI commit-01"),
+			)
+	},
+})
diff --git a/pkg/integration/tests/test_list.go b/pkg/integration/tests/test_list.go
index 04a481279..987713b3c 100644
--- a/pkg/integration/tests/test_list.go
+++ b/pkg/integration/tests/test_list.go
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ var tests = []*components.IntegrationTest{
 	bisect.StartFromBranches,
 	bisect.StartFromSubCommitsAndReflog,
 	bisect.StartFromTagsAndRemoteBranches,
+	bisect.StartInCommitsPanel,
 	branch.CheckoutAutostash,
 	branch.CheckoutByName,
 	branch.CheckoutPreviousBranch,