2 files changed, 10 insertions, 8 deletions

diff --git a/cgit.c b/cgit.c
index 4b2d86c..2de6d7f 100644
--- a/cgit.c
+++ b/cgit.c
@@ -507,9 +507,11 @@ static inline void parse_readme(const char *readme, char **filename, char **ref,
         /* Check if the readme is tracked in the git repo. */
         colon = strchr(readme, ':');
         if (colon && strlen(colon) > 1) {
-                /* If it starts with a colon, we want to use
-                 * the default branch */
-                if (colon == readme && repo->defbranch)
+                /* If it starts with a colon, we want to use head given
+                 * from query or the default branch */
+                if (colon == readme && ctx.qry.head)
+                        *ref = xstrdup(ctx.qry.head);
+                else if (colon == readme && repo->defbranch)
                         *ref = xstrdup(repo->defbranch);
                 else
                         *ref = xstrndup(readme, colon - readme);
diff --git a/cgitrc.5.txt b/cgitrc.5.txt
index 33a6a8c..d9eb3b0 100644
--- a/cgitrc.5.txt
+++ b/cgitrc.5.txt
@@ -579,11 +579,11 @@ repo.readme::
         verbatim as the "About" page for this repo. You may also specify a
         git refspec by head or by hash by prepending the refspec followed by
         a colon. For example, "master:docs/readme.mkd". If the value begins
-        with a colon, i.e. ":docs/readme.rst", the default branch of the
-        repository will be used. Sharing any file will expose that entire
-        directory tree to the "/about/PATH" endpoints, so be sure that there
-        are no non-public files located in the same directory as the readme
-        file. Default value: <readme>.
+        with a colon, i.e. ":docs/readme.rst", the head giving in query or
+        the default branch of the repository will be used. Sharing any file
+        will expose that entire directory tree to the "/about/PATH" endpoints,
+        so be sure that there are no non-public files located in the same
+        directory as the readme file. Default value: <readme>.
 
 repo.section::
         Override the current section name for this repository. Default value: