@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ Changelog
 * diff() can now properly detect renames, both in patch and raw format. Previously it only worked when create_patch was True.
 * repo.odb.update_cache() is now called automatically after fetch and pull operations. In case you did that in your own code, you might want to remove your line to prevent a double-update that causes unnecessary IO.
 * A list of all fixed issues can be found here: https://github.com/gitpython-developers/GitPython/issues?q=milestone%3A%22v0.3.5+-+bugfixes%22+
+* `Repo(path)` will not automatically search upstream anymore and find any git directory on its way up. If you need that behaviour, you can turn it back on using the new `search_parent_directories=True` flag when constructing a `Repo` object.
 
 0.3.4 - Python 3 Support
 ========================
 
@@ -46,7 +46,6 @@
     rev_parse,
     is_git_dir,
     find_git_dir,
-    read_gitfile,
     touch,
 )
 from git.compat import (
@@ -96,7 +95,7 @@ class Repo(object):
     # represents the configuration level of a configuration file
     config_level = ("system", "global", "repository")
 
-    def __init__(self, path=None, odbt=DefaultDBType):
+    def __init__(self, path=None, odbt=DefaultDBType, search_parent_directories=False):
         """Create a new Repo instance
 
         :param path: is the path to either the root git directory or the bare git repo::
@@ -128,15 +127,14 @@ def __init__(self, path=None, odbt=DefaultDBType):
                 self.git_dir = curpath
                 self._working_tree_dir = os.path.dirname(curpath)
                 break
+
             gitpath = find_git_dir(join(curpath, '.git'))
             if gitpath is not None:
                 self.git_dir = gitpath
                 self._working_tree_dir = curpath
                 break
-            gitpath = read_gitfile(curpath)
-            if gitpath:
-                self.git_dir = gitpath
-                self._working_tree_dir = curpath
+            
+            if not search_parent_directories:
                 break
             curpath, dummy = os.path.split(curpath)
             if not dummy:
 
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@
 from git.compat import xrange
 
 
-__all__ = ('rev_parse', 'is_git_dir', 'touch', 'read_gitfile', 'find_git_dir', 'name_to_object',
-           'short_to_long', 'deref_tag', 'to_commit')
+__all__ = ('rev_parse', 'is_git_dir', 'touch', 'find_git_dir', 'name_to_object', 'short_to_long', 'deref_tag', 
+           'to_commit')
 
 
 def touch(filename):
@@ -44,32 +44,21 @@ def is_git_dir(d):
 def find_git_dir(d):
     if is_git_dir(d):
         return d
-    elif isfile(d):
+
+    try:
         with open(d) as fp:
             content = fp.read().rstrip()
+    except (IOError, OSError):
+        # it's probably not a file
+        pass
+    else:
         if content.startswith('gitdir: '):
             d = join(dirname(d), content[8:])
             return find_git_dir(d)
+    # end handle exception
     return None
 
 
-def read_gitfile(f):
-    """ This is taken from the git setup.c:read_gitfile function.
-    :return gitdir path or None if gitfile is invalid."""
-    if f is None:
-        return None
-    try:
-        line = open(f, 'r').readline().rstrip()
-    except (OSError, IOError):
-        # File might not exist or is unreadable - ignore
-        return None
-    # end handle file access
-    if line[0:8] != 'gitdir: ':
-        return None
-    path = os.path.realpath(line[8:])
-    return path if is_git_dir(path) else None
-
-
 def short_to_long(odb, hexsha):
     """:return: long hexadecimal sha1 from the given less-than-40 byte hexsha
         or None if no candidate could be found.
 
@@ -56,8 +56,8 @@ def setUp(self):
                 "your choice - defaulting to the gitpython repository")
             repo_path = os.path.dirname(__file__)
         # end set some repo path
-        self.gitrorepo = Repo(repo_path, odbt=GitCmdObjectDB)
-        self.puregitrorepo = Repo(repo_path, odbt=GitDB)
+        self.gitrorepo = Repo(repo_path, odbt=GitCmdObjectDB, search_parent_directories=True)
+        self.puregitrorepo = Repo(repo_path, odbt=GitDB, search_parent_directories=True)
 
     def tearDown(self):
         self.gitrorepo.git.clear_cache()