diff --git a/action/editcommit.php b/action/editcommit.php
index 9990936..ef10034 100644
--- a/action/editcommit.php
+++ b/action/editcommit.php
@@ -32,23 +32,36 @@ public function register(Doku_Event_Handler $controller) {
         $controller->register_hook('DOKUWIKI_DONE', 'AFTER', $this, 'handle_periodic_pull');
     }
 
-    private function initRepo() {
-        //get path to the repo root (by default DokuWiki's savedir)
-        if(defined('DOKU_FARM')) {
-            $repoPath = $this->getConf('repoPath');
-        } else {
-            $repoPath = DOKU_INC.$this->getConf('repoPath');
-        }
+    private function initRepo($initRepo=True, $filePath="") {
+		if($initRepo) {
+			//get path to the repo root (by default DokuWiki's savedir)
+			if(defined('DOKU_FARM')) {
+				$repoPath = $this->getConf('repoPath');
+			} else {
+				$repoPath = DOKU_INC.$this->getConf('repoPath');
+			}
+		} else {
+			$repoPath = dirname($filePath);
+		}
         //set the path to the git binary
         $gitPath = trim($this->getConf('gitPath'));
         if ($gitPath !== '') {
             Git::set_bin($gitPath);
         }
-        //init the repo and create a new one if it is not present
-        io_mkdir_p($repoPath);
-        $repo = new GitRepo($repoPath, $this, true, true);
+		if ($initRepo) {
+			//init the repo and create a new one if it is not present
+			io_mkdir_p($repoPath);
+			$repo = new GitRepo($repoPath, $this, true, true);
+		} else {
+			new GitRepo($repoPath, $this, false, false);
+		}
         //set git working directory (by default DokuWiki's savedir)
-        $repoWorkDir = DOKU_INC.$this->getConf('repoWorkDir');
+		if ($initRepo) {
+        	$repoWorkDir = DOKU_INC.$this->getConf('repoWorkDir');
+		} else {
+			$repoWorkDir = $repoPath;
+		}
+
         Git::set_bin(Git::get_bin().' --work-tree '.escapeshellarg($repoWorkDir));
 
         $params = str_replace(
@@ -78,7 +91,12 @@ private function isIgnored($filePath) {
     private function commitFile($filePath,$message) {
 		if (!$this->isIgnored($filePath)) {
 			try {
-				$repo = $this->initRepo();
+				$initRepo = $this->getConf('initRepo');
+				if ($initRepo) {
+					$repo = $this->initRepo();
+				} else {
+					$repo = $this->initRepo($initRepo, $filePath);
+				}
 
 				//add the changed file and set the commit message
 				$repo->add($filePath);
diff --git a/conf/default.php b/conf/default.php
index 8b642e3..e11adde 100644
--- a/conf/default.php
+++ b/conf/default.php
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
  * @author Wolfgang Gassler <wolfgang@gassler.org>
  */
 
+$conf['initRepo'] = 1;
 $conf['pushAfterCommit'] = 0;
 $conf['periodicPull'] = 0;
 $conf['periodicMinutes'] = 60;
diff --git a/conf/metadata.php b/conf/metadata.php
index 8ff5d3a..865186a 100644
--- a/conf/metadata.php
+++ b/conf/metadata.php
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
  * @author Wolfgang Gassler <wolfgang@gassler.org>
  */
 
+$meta['initRepo'] = array('onoff');
 $meta['pushAfterCommit'] = array('onoff');
 $meta['periodicPull'] = array('onoff');
 $meta['periodicMinutes'] = array('numeric');
diff --git a/lib/Git.php b/lib/Git.php
index d09535f..0ef29dc 100644
--- a/lib/Git.php
+++ b/lib/Git.php
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ class GitRepo {
 	protected $repo_path = null;
 	protected $bare = false;
 	protected $envopts = array();
-	protected ?\action_plugin_gitbacked_editcommit $plugin = null;
+	protected \action_plugin_gitbacked_editcommit $plugin = null;
 
 	/**
 	 * Create a new git repository
@@ -210,8 +210,11 @@ public function set_repo_path($repo_path, $create_new = false, $_init = true) {
 			if ($new_path = realpath($repo_path)) {
 				$repo_path = $new_path;
 				if (is_dir($repo_path)) {
+					if ($this->is_in_git_repo($repo_path) {
+						$this->repo_path = $repo_path;
+						$this->bare = false;
 					// Is this a work tree?
-					if (file_exists($repo_path."/.git") && is_dir($repo_path."/.git")) {
+					} else if (file_exists($repo_path."/.git") && is_dir($repo_path."/.git")) {
 						$this->repo_path = $repo_path;
 						$this->bare = false;
 					// Is this a bare repo?
@@ -284,6 +287,29 @@ public function test_git() {
 		return ($status != 127);
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Tests if we are in a git repository
+	 *
+	 * @access  public
+	 * @return  bool
+	 */
+	public function is_in_git_repo($path) {
+		$descriptorspec = array(
+			1 => array('pipe', 'w'),
+			2 => array('pipe', 'w'),
+		);
+		$pipes = array();
+		$resource = proc_open(Git::get_bin() + ' rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree', $descriptorspec, $pipes, $path);
+		$stdout = stream_get_contents($pipes[1]);
+		$stderr = stream_get_contents($pipes[2]);
+		foreach ($pipes as $pipe) {
+			fclose($pipe);
+		}
+
+		$status = trim(proc_close($resource));
+		return ($status == 0);
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Run a command in the git repository
 	 *