@@ -72,11 +72,7 @@ repo->module_link= xstrdup(value);
 	else if (!strcmp(name, "section"))
 		repo->section = xstrdup(value);
 	else if (!strcmp(name, "readme") && value != NULL) {
-		char *colon;
-		if (*value == '/' || ((colon = strchr(value, ':')) != NULL && colon != value && *(colon + 1) != '\0'))
-			repo->readme = xstrdup(value);
-		else
-			repo->readme = xstrdup(fmt("%s/%s", repo->path, value));
+		repo->readme = xstrdup(value);
 	} else if (ctx.cfg.enable_filter_overrides) {
 		if (!strcmp(name, "about-filter"))
 			repo->about_filter = new_filter(value, 0);
@@ -97,6 +93,8 @@ else if (ctx.repo && !strcmp(name, "repo.path"))
 		ctx.repo->path = trim_end(value, '/');
 	else if (ctx.repo && !prefixcmp(name, "repo."))
 		repo_config(ctx.repo, name + 5, value);
+	else if (!strcmp(name, "readme"))
+		ctx.cfg.readme = xstrdup(value);
 	else if (!strcmp(name, "root-title"))
 		ctx.cfg.root_title = xstrdup(value);
 	else if (!strcmp(name, "root-desc"))

@@ -168,6 +168,7 @@ char *logo;
 	char *logo_link;
 	char *module_link;
 	char *project_list;
+	char *readme;
 	char *robots;
 	char *root_title;
 	char *root_desc;

@@ -234,6 +234,10 @@ A list of subdirectories inside of scan-path, relative to it, that
 	should loaded as git repositories. This must be defined prior to
 	scan-path. Default value: none. See also: scan-path.
 
+readme::
+	Text which will be used as default value for "repo.readme". Default
+	value: none.
+
 remove-suffix::
 	If set to "1" and scan-path is enabled, if any repositories are found
 	with a suffix of ".git", this suffix will be removed for the url and
@@ -373,7 +377,7 @@ repo.readme::
 	A path (relative to <repo.path>) which specifies a file to include
 	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" Default value: none.
+	a colon. For example, "master:docs/readme.mkd" Default value: <readme>.
 
 repo.snapshots::
 	A mask of allowed snapshot-formats for this repo, restricted by the

@@ -110,9 +110,11 @@ p = fmt("%s/description", path);
 	if (!stat(p, &st))
 		readfile(p, &repo->desc, &size);
 
-	p = fmt("%s/README.html", path);
-	if (!stat(p, &st))
-		repo->readme = "README.html";
+	if (!repo->readme) {
+		p = fmt("%s/README.html", path);
+		if (!stat(p, &st))
+			repo->readme = "README.html";
+	}
 
 	p = fmt("%s/cgitrc", path);
 	if (!stat(p, &st)) {

@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ ret->enable_remote_branches = ctx.cfg.enable_remote_branches;
 	ret->enable_subject_links = ctx.cfg.enable_subject_links;
 	ret->max_stats = ctx.cfg.max_stats;
 	ret->module_link = ctx.cfg.module_link;
-	ret->readme = NULL;
+	ret->readme = ctx.cfg.readme;
 	ret->mtime = -1;
 	ret->about_filter = ctx.cfg.about_filter;
 	ret->commit_filter = ctx.cfg.commit_filter;

@@ -70,33 +70,47 @@ }
 
 void cgit_print_repo_readme(char *path)
 {
-	char *slash, *tmp, *colon, *ref = 0;
+	char *slash, *tmp, *colon, *ref;
 
-	if (!ctx.repo->readme)
+	if (!ctx.repo->readme || !(*ctx.repo->readme))
 		return;
 
+	ref = NULL;
+
+	/* Check if the readme is tracked in the git repo. */
+	colon = strchr(ctx.repo->readme, ':');
+	if (colon && strlen(colon) > 1) {
+		*colon = '\0';
+		ref = ctx.repo->readme;
+		ctx.repo->readme = colon + 1;
+		if (!(*ctx.repo->readme))
+			return;
+	}
+
+	/* Prepend repo path to relative readme path unless tracked. */
+	if (!ref && *ctx.repo->readme != '/')
+		ctx.repo->readme = xstrdup(fmt("%s/%s", ctx.repo->path,
+					       ctx.repo->readme));
+
+	/* If a subpath is specified for the about page, make it relative
+	 * to the directory containing the configured readme.
+	 */
 	if (path) {
 		slash = strrchr(ctx.repo->readme, '/');
 		if (!slash) {
-			slash = strchr(ctx.repo->readme, ':');
-			if (!slash)
+			if (!colon)
 				return;
+			slash = colon;
 		}
 		tmp = xmalloc(slash - ctx.repo->readme + 1 + strlen(path) + 1);
 		strncpy(tmp, ctx.repo->readme, slash - ctx.repo->readme + 1);
 		strcpy(tmp + (slash - ctx.repo->readme + 1), path);
 	} else
 		tmp = ctx.repo->readme;
-	colon = strchr(tmp, ':');
-	if (colon && strlen(colon) > 1) {
-		*colon = '\0';
-		ref = tmp;
-		tmp = colon + 1;
-		while ((*tmp == '/' || *tmp == ':') && *tmp != '\0')
-			++tmp;
-		if (!(*tmp))
-			return;
-	}
+
+	/* Print the calculated readme, either from the git repo or from the
+	 * filesystem, while applying the about-filter.
+	 */
 	html("<div id='summary'>");
 	if (ctx.repo->about_filter)
 		cgit_open_filter(ctx.repo->about_filter);