diff --git a/src/freedombone-image b/src/freedombone-image
index 32982424..77a11b50 100755
--- a/src/freedombone-image
+++ b/src/freedombone-image
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ PROJECT_NAME='freedombone'
 export TEXTDOMAIN=${PROJECT_NAME}-image
 export TEXTDOMAINDIR="/usr/share/locale"
 
+PROJECT_REPO="https://github.com/bashrc/${PROJECT_NAME}"
+
 # recommended RAM for virtual machines
 VM_MEMORY='1G'
 
@@ -199,6 +201,10 @@ case $key in
     shift
     ONION_ONLY="$1"
     ;;
+    -r|--repo|--repository)
+    shift
+    PROJECT_REPO="$1"
+    ;;
     *)
     # unknown option
     ;;
@@ -283,7 +289,8 @@ make $IMAGE_TYPE \
     MINIMAL_INSTALL="$MINIMAL_INSTALL" \
     SSH_PORT="$SSH_PORT" \
     ONION_ONLY="$ONION_ONLY" \
-    IMAGE_NAME="$IMAGE_NAME"
+    IMAGE_NAME="$IMAGE_NAME" \
+    PROJECT_REPO="$PROJECT_REPO"
 
 if [ ! "$?" = "0" ]; then
     echo $'Build failed'
diff --git a/src/freedombone-image-customise b/src/freedombone-image-customise
index 0e3e4e72..98ef75e4 100755
--- a/src/freedombone-image-customise
+++ b/src/freedombone-image-customise
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ PROJECT_NAME='freedombone'
 INSTALL_DIR=/root/build
 COMPLETION_FILE=$HOME/${PROJECT_NAME}-completed.txt
 
+PROJECT_REPO="https://github.com/bashrc/${PROJECT_NAME}"
+
 # username created by default within a debian image
 GENERIC_IMAGE_USERNAME='fbone'
 
@@ -312,10 +314,10 @@ EOF
     echo '            shred -zu ~/login.txt' >> $rootdir/root/.bashrc
     END_MESSAGE1=$'Congratulations!'
     if [[ $VARIANT != "mesh" ]]; then
-        END_MESSAGE2=$'\nYour Freedombone system has now installed\n\nThe onion ssh service is at $SSH_ONION_HOSTNAME\n\nPress any key to reboot and begin using it'
+        END_MESSAGE2=$'\nYour system has now installed\n\nThe onion ssh service is at $SSH_ONION_HOSTNAME\n\nPress any key to reboot and begin using it'
         echo '            SSH_ONION_HOSTNAME=$(cat /var/lib/tor/hidden_service_ssh/hostname)' >> $rootdir/root/.bashrc
     else
-        END_MESSAGE2=$'\nYour Freedombone system has now installed\n\nPress any key to reboot and begin using it'
+        END_MESSAGE2=$'\nYour system has now installed\n\nPress any key to reboot and begin using it'
     fi
     echo "            dialog --title '$END_MESSAGE1' --msgbox \"$END_MESSAGE2\" 9 50" >> $rootdir/root/.bashrc
     echo '            reboot' >> $rootdir/root/.bashrc
@@ -765,8 +767,8 @@ chroot "$rootdir" apt-get install -y locales locales-all debconf
 sed -i "s|#host-name=.*|host-name=${PROJECT_NAME}|g" $rootdir/etc/avahi/avahi-daemon.conf
 
 chroot "$rootdir" /bin/bash -x <<EOF
-git clone https://github.com/bashrc/freedombone /root/freedombone
-cd /root/freedombone
+git clone $PROJECT_REPO /root/$PROJECT_NAME
+cd /root/$PROJECT_NAME
 make install
 EOF
 
diff --git a/src/freedombone-image-make b/src/freedombone-image-make
index bde07e9b..46832d9c 100755
--- a/src/freedombone-image-make
+++ b/src/freedombone-image-make
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ export GENERIC_IMAGE
 export MINIMAL_INSTALL
 export SSH_PORT
 export ONION_ONLY
+export PROJECT_REPO
 
 # Locate vmdebootstrap program fetched in Makefile
 basedir=`pwd`
@@ -168,6 +169,7 @@ sudo sed -i "s|GENERIC_IMAGE=.*|GENERIC_IMAGE=${GENERIC_IMAGE}|g" $TEMP_CUSTOMIS
 sudo sed -i "s|MINIMAL_INSTALL=.*|MINIMAL_INSTALL=\"${MINIMAL_INSTALL}\"|g" $TEMP_CUSTOMISE
 sudo sed -i "s|SSH_PORT=.*|SSH_PORT=\"${SSH_PORT}\"|g" $TEMP_CUSTOMISE
 sudo sed -i "s|ONION_ONLY=.*|ONION_ONLY=\"${ONION_ONLY}\"|g" $TEMP_CUSTOMISE
+sudo sed -i "s|PROJECT_REPO=.*|PROJECT_REPO=\"${PROJECT_REPO}\"|g" $TEMP_CUSTOMISE
 
 echo $"starting $VMDEBOOTSTRAP"
 # Run vmdebootstrap script to create image
diff --git a/src/freedombone-upgrade b/src/freedombone-upgrade
index 94844baf..4b96bb20 100755
--- a/src/freedombone-upgrade
+++ b/src/freedombone-upgrade
@@ -30,21 +30,33 @@
 
 PROJECT_NAME='freedombone'
 
-FREEDOMBONE_REPO="https://github.com/bashrc/${PROJECT_NAME}"
+PROJECT_DIR="/root/${PROJECT_NAME}"
+
+# An optional configuration file which overrides some of these variables
+CONFIGURATION_FILE="/root/${PROJECT_NAME}.cfg"
+
+PROJECT_REPO="https://github.com/bashrc/${PROJECT_NAME}"
+
+if [ -f $CONFIGURATION_FILE ]; then
+    # read the location of the main project repo
+    if grep -q "PROJECT_REPO" $CONFIGURATION_FILE; then
+        PROJECT_REPO=$(grep "PROJECT_REPO" $CONFIGURATION_FILE | awk -F '=' '{print $2}')
+    fi
+fi
 
 update-ca-certificates
 
-if [ ! -d /root/${PROJECT_NAME} ]; then
-    git clone $FREEDOMBONE_REPO /root/${PROJECT_NAME}
+if [ ! -d $PROJECT_DIR ]; then
+    git clone $PROJECT_REPO $PROJECT_DIR
 fi
 
-if [ -d /root/${PROJECT_NAME} ]; then
-    if [ -f /root/${PROJECT_NAME}.cfg ]; then
-        cd /root/${PROJECT_NAME}
+if [ -d $PROJECT_DIR ]; then
+    if [ -f $CONFIGURATION_FILE ]; then
+        cd $PROJECT_DIR
         git stash
         git pull
         make install
-        ${PROJECT_NAME} -c /root/${PROJECT_NAME}.cfg
+        ${PROJECT_NAME} -c $CONFIGURATION_FILE
     fi
 fi