diff --git a/bench/app.py b/bench/app.py
index 12eef2c5..5891864c 100644
--- a/bench/app.py
+++ b/bench/app.py
@@ -21,10 +21,16 @@ def add_to_appstxt(app, bench='.'):
 		with open(os.path.join(bench, 'sites', 'apps.txt'), 'w') as f:
 			return f.write('\n'.join(apps))
 
-def get_app(app, git_url, bench='.'):
+def get_app(app, git_url, branch=None, bench='.'):
 	logger.info('getting app {}'.format(app))
 	shallow_clone = '--depth 1' if check_git_for_shallow_clone() and get_config().get('shallow_clone') else ''
-	exec_cmd("git clone {git_url} {shallow_clone} --origin upstream {app}".format(git_url=git_url, app=app, shallow_clone=shallow_clone), cwd=os.path.join(bench, 'apps'))
+	branch = '--branch {branch}'.format(branch=branch) if branch else ''
+	exec_cmd("git clone {git_url} {branch} {shallow_clone} --origin upstream {app}".format(
+				git_url=git_url,
+				app=app,
+				shallow_clone=shallow_clone,
+				branch=branch),
+			cwd=os.path.join(bench, 'apps'))
 	install_app(app, bench=bench)
 	build_assets(bench=bench)
 	conf = get_config()
@@ -59,7 +65,7 @@ def pull_all_apps(bench='.'):
 def install_apps_from_path(path, bench='.'):
 	apps = get_apps_json(path)
 	for app in apps:
-		get_app(app['name'], app['url'], bench=bench)
+		get_app(app['name'], app['url'], branch=app.get('branch'), bench=bench)
 
 def get_apps_json(path):
 	if path.startswith('http'):
diff --git a/bench/cli.py b/bench/cli.py
index c8b09871..dc51a073 100644
--- a/bench/cli.py
+++ b/bench/cli.py
@@ -57,22 +57,24 @@ def bench(bench='.'):
 @click.argument('path')
 @click.option('--apps_path', default=None, help="path to json files with apps to install after init")
 @click.option('--frappe-path', default=None, help="path to frappe repo")
+@click.option('--frappe-branch', default=None, help="path to frappe repo")
 @click.option('--no-procfile', flag_value=True, type=bool, help="Pull changes in all the apps in bench")
 @click.option('--no-backups',flag_value=True, type=bool, help="Run migrations for all sites in the bench")
 @click.option('--no-auto-update',flag_value=True, type=bool, help="Build JS and CSS artifacts for the bench")
-def init(path, apps_path, frappe_path, no_procfile, no_backups,
+def init(path, apps_path, frappe_path, frappe_branch, no_procfile, no_backups,
 		no_auto_update):
 	"Create a new bench"
 	_init(path, apps_path=apps_path, no_procfile=no_procfile, no_backups=no_backups,
-			no_auto_update=no_auto_update, frappe_path=frappe_path)
+			no_auto_update=no_auto_update, frappe_path=frappe_path, frappe_branch=frappe_branch)
 	click.echo('Bench {} initialized'.format(path))
 
 @click.command('get-app')
 @click.argument('name')
 @click.argument('git-url')
-def get_app(name, git_url):
+@click.option('--branch', default=None, help="branch to checkout")
+def get_app(name, git_url, branch):
 	"clone an app from the internet and set it up in your bench"
-	_get_app(name, git_url)
+	_get_app(name, git_url, branch=branch)
 	
 @click.command('new-app')
 @click.argument('app-name')
diff --git a/bench/utils.py b/bench/utils.py
index 8795bd16..653038ec 100644
--- a/bench/utils.py
+++ b/bench/utils.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ def get_frappe(bench='.'):
 	return frappe
 
 def init(path, apps_path=None, no_procfile=False, no_backups=False,
-		no_auto_update=False, frappe_path=None, wheel_cache_dir=None):
+		no_auto_update=False, frappe_path=None, frappe_branch=None, wheel_cache_dir=None):
 	from .app import get_app, install_apps_from_path
 	if os.path.exists(path):
 		print 'Directory {} already exists!'.format(path)
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ def init(path, apps_path=None, no_procfile=False, no_backups=False,
 		prime_wheel_cache(bench=path)
 	if not frappe_path:
 		frappe_path = 'https://github.com/frappe/frappe.git'
-	get_app('frappe', frappe_path, bench=path)
+	get_app('frappe', frappe_path, branch=frappe_branch, bench=path)
 	if not no_procfile:
 		setup_procfile(bench=path)
 	if not no_backups: