diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index a1efab559..a6e0796e9 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -48,6 +48,9 @@ RUN apt-get update \
 
 COPY assets/build/ ${REDMINE_BUILD_ASSETS_DIR}/
 
+ARG REDMINE_BRANCH
+ENV REDMINE_BRANCH=${REDMINE_BRANCH:-"master"}
+
 RUN bash ${REDMINE_BUILD_ASSETS_DIR}/install.sh
 
 COPY assets/runtime/ ${REDMINE_RUNTIME_ASSETS_DIR}/
diff --git a/assets/build/install.sh b/assets/build/install.sh
index 064c44602..153bd4daa 100755
--- a/assets/build/install.sh
+++ b/assets/build/install.sh
@@ -32,16 +32,17 @@ rm -rf /tmp/cron.${REDMINE_USER}
 
 # install redmine, use local copy if available
 exec_as_redmine mkdir -p ${REDMINE_INSTALL_DIR}
-if [[ -f ${REDMINE_BUILD_ASSETS_DIR}/redmine-${REDMINE_VERSION}.tar.gz ]]; then
-  exec_as_redmine tar -zvxf ${REDMINE_BUILD_ASSETS_DIR}/redmine-${REDMINE_VERSION}.tar.gz --strip=1 -C ${REDMINE_INSTALL_DIR}
+if [[ -f ${REDMINE_BUILD_ASSETS_DIR}/redmine-${REDMINE_VERSION}-${REDMINE_BRANCH}.tar.gz ]]; then
+  echo "Using local tar: ${REDMINE_BUILD_ASSETS_DIR/redmine-${REDMINE_VERSION}-${REDMINE_BRANCH}.tar.gz}"
+  exec_as_redmine tar -zvxf ${REDMINE_BUILD_ASSETS_DIR}/redmine-${REDMINE_VERSION}-${REDMINE_BRANCH}.tar.gz --strip=1 -C ${REDMINE_INSTALL_DIR}
 else
-  echo "Downloading Redmine ${REDMINE_VERSION}..."
-  exec_as_redmine wget "https://github.com/OpenSourceBrain/redmine/archive/master.tar.gz" -O /tmp/redmine-${REDMINE_VERSION}.tar.gz
+  echo "Redmine tar not found. Downloading tar for Redmine branch: ${REDMINE_BRANCH}..."
+  exec_as_redmine wget "https://github.com/OpenSourceBrain/redmine/archive/${REDMINE_BRANCH}.tar.gz" -O /tmp/redmine-${REDMINE_VERSION}-${REDMINE_BRANCH}.tar.gz
 
   echo "Extracting..."
-  exec_as_redmine tar -zxf /tmp/redmine-${REDMINE_VERSION}.tar.gz --strip=1 -C ${REDMINE_INSTALL_DIR}
+  exec_as_redmine tar -zxf /tmp/redmine-${REDMINE_VERSION}-${REDMINE_BRANCH}.tar.gz --strip=1 -C ${REDMINE_INSTALL_DIR}
 
-  exec_as_redmine rm -rf /tmp/redmine-${REDMINE_VERSION}.tar.gz
+  exec_as_redmine rm -rf /tmp/redmine-${REDMINE_VERSION}-${REDMINE_BRANCH}.tar.gz
 fi
 
 # HACK: we want both the pg and mysql2 gems installed, so we remove the