diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e2fe888a..1f64501f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -52,6 +52,15 @@ optional arguments:
                         location of the Git repo
   --only ONLY [ONLY ...]
                         generate only the specified packages
+  --pr-comment PR_COMMENT
+                        comment to add to the PR
+  --upstream-repo UPSTREAM_REPO
+                        location of the upstream repository as in
+                        https://github.com/<owner>/<repository>
+  --upstream-branch UPSTREAM_BRANCH
+                        branch of the upstream repository
+  --skip-keys SKIP_KEYS
+                        packages to skip during regeneration
 ```
 
 ### Testing Gentoo Ebuilds
diff --git a/superflore/generators/bitbake/ros_meta.py b/superflore/generators/bitbake/ros_meta.py
index 929f85ec..3a22714f 100644
--- a/superflore/generators/bitbake/ros_meta.py
+++ b/superflore/generators/bitbake/ros_meta.py
@@ -20,8 +20,11 @@
 
 
 class RosMeta(object):
-    def __init__(self, repo_dir, do_clone, org='allenh1', repo='meta-ros'):
-        self.repo = RepoInstance(org, repo, repo_dir, do_clone)
+    def __init__(
+       self, repo_dir, do_clone, org='allenh1', repo='meta-ros', from_branch=''
+    ):
+        self.repo = RepoInstance(
+            org, repo, repo_dir, do_clone, from_branch=from_branch)
         self.branch_name = 'yocto-bot-%s' % rand_ascii_str()
         info('Creating new branch {0}...'.format(self.branch_name))
         self.repo.create_branch(self.branch_name)
diff --git a/superflore/generators/bitbake/run.py b/superflore/generators/bitbake/run.py
index 6dcb82c5..682baa95 100644
--- a/superflore/generators/bitbake/run.py
+++ b/superflore/generators/bitbake/run.py
@@ -90,7 +90,8 @@ def main():
             _repo,
             not args.output_repository_path,
             org=repo_org,
-            repo=repo_name
+            repo=repo_name,
+            from_branch=args.upstream_branch,
         )
         if not args.only:
             pr_comment = pr_comment or (
diff --git a/superflore/generators/ebuild/overlay_instance.py b/superflore/generators/ebuild/overlay_instance.py
index a4c22a1a..109afbe8 100644
--- a/superflore/generators/ebuild/overlay_instance.py
+++ b/superflore/generators/ebuild/overlay_instance.py
@@ -23,10 +23,12 @@
 
 
 class RosOverlay(object):
-    def __init__(self, repo_dir, do_clone, org='ros', repo='ros-overlay'):
+    def __init__(
+        self, repo_dir, do_clone, org='ros', repo='ros-overlay', from_branch=''
+    ):
         self.repo = RepoInstance(
-            org, repo, repo_dir=repo_dir, do_clone=do_clone
-        )
+            org, repo, repo_dir=repo_dir, do_clone=do_clone,
+            from_branch=from_branch)
         self.branch_name = 'gentoo-bot-%s' % rand_ascii_str()
         info('Creating new branch {0}...'.format(self.branch_name))
         self.repo.create_branch(self.branch_name)
diff --git a/superflore/generators/ebuild/run.py b/superflore/generators/ebuild/run.py
index 4147e5b5..0f0dfedf 100644
--- a/superflore/generators/ebuild/run.py
+++ b/superflore/generators/ebuild/run.py
@@ -83,7 +83,8 @@ def main():
             _repo,
             not args.output_repository_path,
             org=repo_org,
-            repo=repo_name
+            repo=repo_name,
+            from_branch=args.upstream_branch,
         )
         if not preserve_existing and not args.only:
             pr_comment = pr_comment or (
diff --git a/superflore/parser.py b/superflore/parser.py
index 6e5e0ac9..59ec9a39 100644
--- a/superflore/parser.py
+++ b/superflore/parser.py
@@ -56,7 +56,13 @@ def get_parser(tool_tip, is_generator=True):
         )
         parser.add_argument(
             '--upstream-repo',
-            help='location of the upstream repository',
+            help='location of the upstream repository as in '
+                 + 'https://github.com/<owner>/<repository>',
+            type=str
+        )
+        parser.add_argument(
+            '--upstream-branch',
+            help='branch of the upstream repository',
             type=str
         )
         parser.add_argument(
diff --git a/superflore/repo_instance.py b/superflore/repo_instance.py
index fc53ce64..335f10d3 100644
--- a/superflore/repo_instance.py
+++ b/superflore/repo_instance.py
@@ -25,16 +25,19 @@
 
 
 class RepoInstance(object):
-    def __init__(self, repo_owner, repo_name, repo_dir=None, do_clone=True):
+    def __init__(
+            self, repo_owner, repo_name, repo_dir=None, do_clone=True,
+            from_branch=''):
         self.repo_owner = repo_owner
         self.repo_name = repo_name
         repo_url = 'https://github.com/{0}/{1}'
         self.repo_url = repo_url.format(self.repo_owner, self.repo_name)
         self.repo_dir = repo_dir or self.repo_name
         # by default, start on master.
-        self.branch = 'master'
+        self.branch = from_branch or 'master'
         if do_clone:
-            self.repo = Repo.clone_from(self.repo_url, self.repo_dir)
+            self.repo = Repo.clone_from(
+                self.repo_url, self.repo_dir, branch=self.branch)
         else:
             self.repo = Repo(repo_dir)
         self.git = self.repo.git
diff --git a/tests/test_parser.py b/tests/test_parser.py
index d0051f88..c410394e 100644
--- a/tests/test_parser.py
+++ b/tests/test_parser.py
@@ -33,3 +33,5 @@ def test_get_parser(self):
         self.assertIn('pr_only', ret)
         self.assertIn('ros_distro', ret)
         self.assertIn('upstream_repo', ret)
+        self.assertIn('upstream_branch', ret)
+        self.assertIn('skip_keys', ret)