diff --git a/includes/VersioncontrolGitRepository.php b/includes/VersioncontrolGitRepository.php
index 2ed4571..ca3c545 100644
--- a/includes/VersioncontrolGitRepository.php
+++ b/includes/VersioncontrolGitRepository.php
@@ -151,6 +151,44 @@ class VersioncontrolGitRepository extends VersioncontrolRepository {
     return $commits;
   }
 
+
+  /**
+   * Change the default branch.
+   *
+   * @param $branch_name
+   *   The name of the branch that should be checked out by default, when the
+   *   repository is cloned.
+   *
+   * @throws Exception
+   *   If the branch doesn't exist.
+   */
+  public function setDefaultBranch($branch_name) {
+    // Ensure the branch exists.
+    $refs = $this->exec('show-ref --heads ' . escapeshellarg($branch_name));
+    if (!count(array_filter($refs))) {
+      throw new Exception(t('The branch %branch_name does not exist.', array('%branch_name' => $branch_name)));
+    }
+
+    // Create a symbolic ref from HEAD to the branch.
+    $this->exec('symbolic-ref HEAD ' . escapeshellarg('refs/heads/' . $branch_name));
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Get the default branch of the repository. That is the branch HEAD points
+   * to.
+   *
+   * @return
+   *   The name of the default branch or NULL if there is none.
+   */
+  public function getDefaultBranch() {
+    $lines = $this->exec('name-rev --name-only HEAD');
+    foreach ($lines as $line) {
+      if ($line) {
+        return $line;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * Execute a Git command using the root context and the command to be
    * executed.
@@ -161,7 +199,7 @@ class VersioncontrolGitRepository extends VersioncontrolRepository {
    *  Logged output from the command; an array of either strings or file
    *  pointers.
    */
-  protected function exec($command) {
+  public function exec($command) {
     if (!$this->envSet) {
       $this->setEnv();
     }
diff --git a/tests/VersioncontrolGitDeaultBranchTests.test b/tests/VersioncontrolGitDeaultBranchTests.test
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..037bbe0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/VersioncontrolGitDeaultBranchTests.test
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * @file
+ *
+ * Tests default branch handling.
+ */
+
+require_once drupal_get_path('module', 'versioncontrol_git') . '/tests/VersioncontrolGitTestCase.test';
+
+class VersioncontrolGitDefaultBranchTests extends VersioncontrolGitTestCase {
+
+  /**
+   * Implementation of getInfo().
+   */
+  public static function getInfo() {
+    return array(
+      'name' => t('Git default branch tests'),
+      'description' => t('Tests default branch handling in Git repositories.'),
+      'group' => t('Version Control Git'),
+    );
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Ensure that the default branch stays set after it has been changed.
+   */
+  public function testSetAndGet() {
+    // If no default branch has been explicitly set, it should be master.
+    $repo = $this->versioncontrolCreateRepoFromTestRepo();
+    $this->assertEqual($repo->getDefaultBranch(), 'master');
+
+    // Try to set it to fixes and ensure that worked.
+    $repo->setDefaultBranch('fixes');
+    $this->assertEqual($repo->getDefaultBranch(), 'fixes');
+
+    // Assert that an exception is thrown for invalid branches.
+    try {
+      $repo->setDefaultBranch('non-existing-branch-name');
+      $this->fail(t('Exception expected'));
+    } catch (Exception $e) {
+      $this->pass($e->getMessage());
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Ensure that cloned repositories actually have the default branch checked
+   * out.
+   */
+  public function testCloning() {
+    // Make the repo to clone from ready.
+    $repo = $this->versioncontrolCreateRepoFromTestRepo();
+    $repo->setDefaultBranch('feature');
+
+    // The default branch should be the same in a clone repo.
+    $clone = $this->versioncontrolCreateRepoFromClone($repo->root);
+    $this->assertEqual($clone->getDefaultBranch(), 'feature');
+  }
+}