diff --git a/man/repo-init.1 b/man/repo-init.1
index cf93de1f..37411752 100644
--- a/man/repo-init.1
+++ b/man/repo-init.1
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 .\" DO NOT MODIFY THIS FILE!  It was generated by help2man.
-.TH REPO "1" "October 2022" "repo init" "Repo Manual"
+.TH REPO "1" "September 2024" "repo init" "Repo Manual"
 .SH NAME
 repo \- repo init - manual page for repo init
 .SH SYNOPSIS
@@ -28,6 +28,11 @@ manifest repository location
 \fB\-b\fR REVISION, \fB\-\-manifest\-branch\fR=\fI\,REVISION\/\fR
 manifest branch or revision (use HEAD for default)
 .TP
+\fB\-\-manifest\-upstream\-branch\fR=\fI\,BRANCH\/\fR
+when a commit is provided to \fB\-\-manifest\-branch\fR, this
+is the name of the git ref in which the commit can be
+found
+.TP
 \fB\-m\fR NAME.xml, \fB\-\-manifest\-name\fR=\fI\,NAME\/\fR.xml
 initial manifest file
 .TP
@@ -163,6 +168,10 @@ The optional \fB\-b\fR argument can be used to select the manifest branch to che
 and use. If no branch is specified, the remote's default branch is used. This is
 equivalent to using \fB\-b\fR HEAD.
 .PP
+The optional \fB\-\-manifest\-upstream\-branch\fR argument can be used when a commit is
+provided to \fB\-\-manifest\-branch\fR (or \fB\-b\fR), to specify the name of the git ref in
+which the commit can be found.
+.PP
 The optional \fB\-m\fR argument can be used to specify an alternate manifest to be
 used. If no manifest is specified, the manifest default.xml will be used.
 .PP
diff --git a/repo b/repo
index b2114e56..9cedcbf9 100755
--- a/repo
+++ b/repo
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ if not REPO_REV:
 BUG_URL = "https://issues.gerritcodereview.com/issues/new?component=1370071"
 
 # increment this whenever we make important changes to this script
-VERSION = (2, 45)
+VERSION = (2, 48)
 
 # increment this if the MAINTAINER_KEYS block is modified
 KEYRING_VERSION = (2, 3)
@@ -282,6 +282,12 @@ def InitParser(parser):
         metavar="REVISION",
         help="manifest branch or revision (use HEAD for default)",
     )
+    group.add_option(
+        "--manifest-upstream-branch",
+        help="when a commit is provided to --manifest-branch, this "
+        "is the name of the git ref in which the commit can be found",
+        metavar="BRANCH",
+    )
     group.add_option(
         "-m",
         "--manifest-name",
diff --git a/subcmds/init.py b/subcmds/init.py
index 7617bc1f..fb6d3eb5 100644
--- a/subcmds/init.py
+++ b/subcmds/init.py
@@ -52,6 +52,10 @@ The optional -b argument can be used to select the manifest branch
 to checkout and use.  If no branch is specified, the remote's default
 branch is used.  This is equivalent to using -b HEAD.
 
+The optional --manifest-upstream-branch argument can be used when a commit is
+provided to --manifest-branch (or -b), to specify the name of the git ref in
+which the commit can be found.
+
 The optional -m argument can be used to specify an alternate manifest
 to be used. If no manifest is specified, the manifest default.xml
 will be used.
@@ -135,6 +139,7 @@ to update the working directory files.
         # manifest project is special and is created when instantiating the
         # manifest which happens before we parse options.
         self.manifest.manifestProject.clone_depth = opt.manifest_depth
+        self.manifest.manifestProject.upstream = opt.manifest_upstream_branch
         clone_filter_for_depth = (
             "blob:none" if (_REPO_ALLOW_SHALLOW == "0") else None
         )
@@ -317,6 +322,12 @@ to update the working directory files.
                 " be used with --standalone-manifest."
             )
 
+        if opt.manifest_upstream_branch and opt.manifest_branch is None:
+            self.OptionParser.error(
+                "--manifest-upstream-branch cannot be used without "
+                "--manifest-branch."
+            )
+
         if args:
             if opt.manifest_url:
                 self.OptionParser.error(