diff --git a/conf/example.gitolite.rc b/conf/example.gitolite.rc
index 700fc0e..78df455 100644
--- a/conf/example.gitolite.rc
+++ b/conf/example.gitolite.rc
@@ -88,6 +88,16 @@ $PERSONAL="";
 # NOTE: whatever value you choose, for security reasons it is better to make
 # it fully qualified -- that is, starting with "refs/"
 
+# --------------------------------------
+
+# if git on your server is on a standard path (that is
+#       ssh git@server git --version
+# works), leave this setting as is.  Otherwise, choose one of the
+# alternatives, or write your own
+
+$GIT_PATH=""
+# $GIT_PATH="/opt/bin/"
+
 # --------------------------------------
 # per perl rules, this should be the last line in such a file:
 1;
diff --git a/doc/3-faq-tips-etc.mkd b/doc/3-faq-tips-etc.mkd
index 917590a..cda6ab0 100644
--- a/doc/3-faq-tips-etc.mkd
+++ b/doc/3-faq-tips-etc.mkd
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ In this document:
       * easier to specify gitweb/daemon access
       * better logging
       * one user, many keys
+      * support for git installed outside default PATH
       * who am I?
   * other cool things
       * "personal" branches
@@ -226,7 +227,7 @@ bits and pieces.  Here's an example, using short repo names for convenience:
     repo r2
     # ...and so on...
 
-### better logging
+#### better logging
 
 If you have been too liberal with the permission to rewind, it has built-in
 logging as an emergency fallback if someone goes too far, or for audit
@@ -271,6 +272,27 @@ the extra "@" stuff.
 I think this is easier to maintain if you have to delete or change one of
 those keys.
 
+#### support for git installed outside default PATH
+
+The normal solution is to add to the system default PATH somehow, either by
+munging `/etc/profile` or by enabling `PermitUserEnvironment` in
+`/etc/ssh/sshd_config` and then setting the PATH in `~/.ssh/.environment`.
+All these are security risks because they allow a lot more than just you and
+your git install :-)
+
+And if you don't have root, you can't do this anyway.
+
+The only solution till now has been to ask every client to set the config
+parameters `remote.<name>.receivepack` and `remote.<name>.uploadpack`.  But
+telling *every* client to do so is a pain...
+
+Gitolite lets you specify the directory in which git binaries are to be found,
+via a new variable (`$GIT_PATH`) in the "rc" file.  If this variable is
+non-empty, it will be appended to the PATH environment variable before
+attempting to run git stuff.
+
+Very easy, very simple, and completely transparent to the users :-)
+
 #### who am I?
 
 As a developer, I send a file called `id_rsa.pub` to the gitolite admin.  He
@@ -292,7 +314,7 @@ In gitolite, it's simple: just ask nicely :-)
 
 ### other cool things
 
-### "personal" branches
+#### "personal" branches
 
 "personal" branches are great for corporate environments, where
 unauthenticated pull/clone is a no-no.  Since a dev workstation cannot do
diff --git a/src/00-easy-install.sh b/src/00-easy-install.sh
index c6201f1..a9f5ecf 100755
--- a/src/00-easy-install.sh
+++ b/src/00-easy-install.sh
@@ -239,14 +239,28 @@ prompt "the gitolite rc file needs to be edited by hand.  The defaults
 # lets try and get the file from there first
 if scp -P $port $user@$host:.gitolite.rc .
 then
-    prompt "Oh hey... you already had a '.gitolite.rc' file on the server.  I'll use
-    that instead of the default one..."
+    prompt "Oh hey... you already had a '.gitolite.rc' file on the server.
+    Let's see if we can use that instead of the default one..."
+    sort < .gitolite.rc             | perl -ne 'print "$1\n" if /^(\$\w+) *=/' > glrc.old
+    sort < conf/example.gitolite.rc | perl -ne 'print "$1\n" if /^(\$\w+) *=/' > glrc.new
+    if diff -u glrc.old glrc.new
+    then
+        prompt "    looks like you're upgrading!  I'm going to run your editor
+        with *both* the old and the new files (in that order), so you can add
+        in the lines pertaining to the variables shown with a '+' sign in the
+        above diff.  This is necessary; please dont skip this
+
+        [It's upto you to figure out how your editor handles 2 filename
+        arguments, switch between them, copy lines, etc ;-)]"
+        ${VISUAL:-${EDITOR:-vi}} .gitolite.rc conf/example.gitolite.rc
+    else
+        ${VISUAL:-${EDITOR:-vi}} .gitolite.rc
+    fi
 else
     cp conf/example.gitolite.rc .gitolite.rc
+    ${VISUAL:-${EDITOR:-vi}} .gitolite.rc
 fi
 
-${VISUAL:-${EDITOR:-vi}} .gitolite.rc
-
 # copy the rc across
 scp -P $port .gitolite.rc $user@$host:
 
diff --git a/src/gl-auth-command b/src/gl-auth-command
index 62573d4..8201403 100755
--- a/src/gl-auth-command
+++ b/src/gl-auth-command
@@ -24,13 +24,16 @@ use warnings;
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
-our ($GL_LOGT, $GL_CONF_COMPILED, $REPO_BASE);
+our ($GL_LOGT, $GL_CONF_COMPILED, $REPO_BASE, $GIT_PATH);
 our %repos;
 
 my $glrc = $ENV{HOME} . "/.gitolite.rc";
 die "parse $glrc failed: "             . ($! or $@) unless do $glrc;
 die "parse $GL_CONF_COMPILED failed: " . ($! or $@) unless do $GL_CONF_COMPILED;
 
+# add a custom path for git binaries, if specified
+$ENV{PATH} .= ":$GIT_PATH" if $GIT_PATH;
+
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 #       definitions specific to this program
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/src/gl-compile-conf b/src/gl-compile-conf
index ad50c4a..f51f97a 100755
--- a/src/gl-compile-conf
+++ b/src/gl-compile-conf
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ $Data::Dumper::Indent = 1;
 #       common definitions
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-our ($GL_ADMINDIR, $GL_CONF, $GL_KEYDIR, $GL_CONF_COMPILED, $REPO_BASE, $REPO_UMASK, $PROJECTS_LIST);
+our ($GL_ADMINDIR, $GL_CONF, $GL_KEYDIR, $GL_CONF_COMPILED, $REPO_BASE, $REPO_UMASK, $PROJECTS_LIST, $GIT_PATH);
 
 # now that this thing *may* be run via "push to admin", any errors have to
 # grab the admin's ATTENTION so he won't miss them among the other messages a
@@ -57,6 +57,9 @@ my $ATTN = "\n\t\t***** ERROR *****\n       ";
 my $glrc = $ENV{HOME} . "/.gitolite.rc";
 die "$ATTN parse $glrc failed: " . ($! or $@) unless do $glrc;
 
+# add a custom path for git binaries, if specified
+$ENV{PATH} .= ":$GIT_PATH" if $GIT_PATH;
+
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 #       definitions specific to this program
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/src/install.pl b/src/install.pl
index 3e1f655..f6e4142 100755
--- a/src/install.pl
+++ b/src/install.pl
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 use strict;
 use warnings;
 
-our ($REPO_BASE, $GL_ADMINDIR, $GL_CONF);
+our ($REPO_BASE, $GL_ADMINDIR, $GL_CONF, $GIT_PATH);
 
 # wrapper around mkdir; it's not an error if the directory exists, but it is
 # an error if it doesn't exist and we can't create it
@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@ unless (-f $glrc) {
 # ok now $glrc exists; read it to get the other paths
 die "parse $glrc failed: " . ($! or $@) unless do $glrc;
 
+# add a custom path for git binaries, if specified
+$ENV{PATH} .= ":$GIT_PATH" if $GIT_PATH;
+
 # mkdir $REPO_BASE, $GL_ADMINDIR if they don't already exist
 my $repo_base_abs = ( $REPO_BASE =~ m(^/) ? $REPO_BASE : "$ENV{HOME}/$REPO_BASE" );
 wrap_mkdir($repo_base_abs);