diff --git a/share/tools/webupdate-regression b/share/tools/webupdate-regression
index dc47d341ba..7f6e9242f4 100755
--- a/share/tools/webupdate-regression
+++ b/share/tools/webupdate-regression
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ set -e
 : ${NO_OBJ=YES}
 : ${make_opt=-j8}
 : ${GIT_REPO_FREEBSD_DOC="$HOME/freebsd-doc"}
+: ${FREEBSD_DOC_GIT_BRANCH=""}
 : ${WEBUPDATE_FORMATS="html-split html"}
 : ${WEBUPDATE_RUN_CLEAN=YES}
 : ${WEBUPDATE_LEVEL="3"}
@@ -69,6 +70,10 @@ checkout ()
   echo "git clone from $GIT_REPO_FREEBSD_DOC -> doc"
   git clone -q $GIT_REPO_FREEBSD_DOC doc
   cd doc
+  if [ "$FREEBSD_DOC_GIT_BRANCH" != "" ]; then
+    echo "switch to branch $FREEBSD_DOC_GIT_BRANCH"
+    git checkout $FREEBSD_DOC_GIT_BRANCH
+  fi
   echo "branch: $(git branch)"
   echo "cwd: $(pwd)"