diff --git a/gitweb/README b/gitweb/README
index bf3664f..7ee8450 100644
--- a/gitweb/README
+++ b/gitweb/README
@@ -246,6 +246,10 @@ not include variables usually directly set during build):
    http://www.andre-simon.de due to assumptions about parameters and output).
    Useful if highlight is not installed on your webserver's PATH.
    [Default: highlight]
+ * $git_versions_must_match
+   If set, gitweb fails with 500 Internal Server Error if the version of gitweb
+   doesn't match version of git binary.  The default is true.
+
 
 Projects list file format
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
diff --git a/gitweb/gitweb.perl b/gitweb/gitweb.perl
index 8d7e4c5..215a4e9 100755
--- a/gitweb/gitweb.perl
+++ b/gitweb/gitweb.perl
@@ -232,6 +232,9 @@ our %avatar_size = (
 	'double'  => 32
 );
 
+# If it is true, exit if gitweb version and git binary version don't match
+our $git_versions_must_match = 1;
+
 # Used to set the maximum load that we will still respond to gitweb queries.
 # If server load exceed this value then return "503 server busy" error.
 # If gitweb cannot determined server load, it is taken to be 0.
@@ -649,6 +652,29 @@ sub check_loadavg {
 	}
 }
 
+sub check_versionmatch {
+	# Throw an error if git versions does not match, if $git_versions_must_match is true.
+	if ($git_versions_must_match &&
+	    $git_version ne $version) {
+		my $admin_contact =
+			defined $ENV{'SERVER_ADMIN'} ? ", $ENV{'SERVER_ADMIN'}," : '';
+		my $err_msg = <<EOT;
+<h1 align="center">*** Warning ***</h1>
+<p>
+This version of gitweb was compiled for <b>@{[esc_html($version)]}</b>,
+however git version <b>@{[esc_html($git_version)]}</b> was found on server,
+and administrator requested strict version checking.
+</p>
+<p>
+Please contact the server administrator${admin_contact} to either configure
+gitweb to allow mismatched versions, or update git or gitweb installation.
+</p>
+EOT
+		die_error(500, 'Internal server error', $err_msg);
+	}
+
+}
+
 # ======================================================================
 # input validation and dispatch
 
@@ -1075,6 +1101,7 @@ sub run_request {
 	evaluate_uri();
 	evaluate_gitweb_config();
 	check_loadavg();
+	check_versionmatch();
 
 	# $projectroot and $projects_list might be set in gitweb config file
 	$projects_list ||= $projectroot;