diff --git a/cmd/flags.go b/cmd/flags.go
index 5bc638b..a71dd35 100644
--- a/cmd/flags.go
+++ b/cmd/flags.go
@@ -112,6 +112,13 @@ var (
 			Usage:   "specify at which log level should be logged. Possible options: info, warn, error, fatal",
 			EnvVars: []string{"LOG_LEVEL"},
 		},
+		// Default branches to fetch assets from
+		&cli.StringSliceFlag{
+			Name:    "pages-branch",
+			Usage:   "define a branch to fetch assets from",
+			EnvVars: []string{"PAGES_BRANCHES"},
+			Value:   cli.NewStringSlice("pages"),
+		},
 
 		// ############################
 		// ### ACME Client Settings ###
diff --git a/cmd/main.go b/cmd/main.go
index aa00f54..45e151d 100644
--- a/cmd/main.go
+++ b/cmd/main.go
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ func Serve(ctx *cli.Context) error {
 	giteaRoot := ctx.String("gitea-root")
 	giteaAPIToken := ctx.String("gitea-api-token")
 	rawDomain := ctx.String("raw-domain")
+	defaultBranches := ctx.StringSlice("pages-branch")
 	mainDomainSuffix := ctx.String("pages-domain")
 	rawInfoPage := ctx.String("raw-info-page")
 	listeningHost := ctx.String("host")
@@ -63,6 +64,10 @@ func Serve(ctx *cli.Context) error {
 		mainDomainSuffix = "." + mainDomainSuffix
 	}
 
+	if len(defaultBranches) == 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("no default branches set (PAGES_BRANCHES)")
+	}
+
 	// Init ssl cert database
 	certDB, closeFn, err := openCertDB(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -104,6 +109,7 @@ func Serve(ctx *cli.Context) error {
 	listener = tls.NewListener(listener, certificates.TLSConfig(mainDomainSuffix,
 		giteaClient,
 		acmeClient,
+		defaultBranches[0],
 		keyCache, challengeCache, dnsLookupCache, canonicalDomainCache,
 		certDB))
 
@@ -131,6 +137,7 @@ func Serve(ctx *cli.Context) error {
 		giteaClient,
 		rawInfoPage,
 		BlacklistedPaths, allowedCorsDomains,
+		defaultBranches,
 		dnsLookupCache, canonicalDomainCache)
 
 	// Start the ssl listener
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 944e2ad..bfde7f7 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/rs/zerolog v1.27.0
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.7.0
 	github.com/urfave/cli/v2 v2.3.0
+	golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20230213192124-5e25df0256eb
 	xorm.io/xorm v1.3.2
 )
 
@@ -117,7 +118,7 @@ require (
 	golang.org/x/crypto v0.0.0-20220722155217-630584e8d5aa // indirect
 	golang.org/x/net v0.0.0-20211112202133-69e39bad7dc2 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/oauth2 v0.0.0-20200107190931-bf48bf16ab8d // indirect
-	golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20220728004956-3c1f35247d10 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/sys v0.1.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/text v0.3.6 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/time v0.0.0-20210611083556-38a9dc6acbc6 // indirect
 	google.golang.org/api v0.20.0 // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index b5a7568..b10305c 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -768,6 +768,8 @@ golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20191227195350-da58074b4299/go.mod h1:2RIsYlXP63K8oxa1u0
 golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20200119233911-0405dc783f0a/go.mod h1:2RIsYlXP63K8oxa1u096TMicItID8zy7Y6sNkU49FU4=
 golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20200207192155-f17229e696bd/go.mod h1:J/WKrq2StrnmMY6+EHIKF9dgMWnmCNThgcyBT1FY9mM=
 golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20200224162631-6cc2880d07d6/go.mod h1:3jZMyOhIsHpP37uCMkUooju7aAi5cS1Q23tOzKc+0MU=
+golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20230213192124-5e25df0256eb h1:PaBZQdo+iSDyHT053FjUCgZQ/9uqVwPOcl7KSWhKn6w=
+golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20230213192124-5e25df0256eb/go.mod h1:CxIveKay+FTh1D0yPZemJVgC/95VzuuOLq5Qi4xnoYc=
 golang.org/x/image v0.0.0-20190227222117-0694c2d4d067/go.mod h1:kZ7UVZpmo3dzQBMxlp+ypCbDeSB+sBbTgSJuh5dn5js=
 golang.org/x/image v0.0.0-20190802002840-cff245a6509b/go.mod h1:FeLwcggjj3mMvU+oOTbSwawSJRM1uh48EjtB4UJZlP0=
 golang.org/x/lint v0.0.0-20181026193005-c67002cb31c3/go.mod h1:UVdnD1Gm6xHRNCYTkRU2/jEulfH38KcIWyp/GAMgvoE=
@@ -899,6 +901,8 @@ golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20210927094055-39ccf1dd6fa6/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBc
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20211007075335-d3039528d8ac/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20220728004956-3c1f35247d10 h1:WIoqL4EROvwiPdUtaip4VcDdpZ4kha7wBWZrbVKCIZg=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20220728004956-3c1f35247d10/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.1.0 h1:kunALQeHf1/185U1i0GOB/fy1IPRDDpuoOOqRReG57U=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.1.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
 golang.org/x/term v0.0.0-20201117132131-f5c789dd3221/go.mod h1:Nr5EML6q2oocZ2LXRh80K7BxOlk5/8JxuGnuhpl+muw=
 golang.org/x/term v0.0.0-20201126162022-7de9c90e9dd1 h1:v+OssWQX+hTHEmOBgwxdZxK4zHq3yOs8F9J7mk0PY8E=
 golang.org/x/term v0.0.0-20201126162022-7de9c90e9dd1/go.mod h1:bj7SfCRtBDWHUb9snDiAeCFNEtKQo2Wmx5Cou7ajbmo=
diff --git a/integration/main_test.go b/integration/main_test.go
index a6579fd..a397110 100644
--- a/integration/main_test.go
+++ b/integration/main_test.go
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ func startServer(ctx context.Context) error {
 	setEnvIfNotSet("ACME_API", "https://acme.mock.directory")
 	setEnvIfNotSet("PAGES_DOMAIN", "localhost.mock.directory")
 	setEnvIfNotSet("RAW_DOMAIN", "raw.localhost.mock.directory")
+	setEnvIfNotSet("PAGES_BRANCHES", "pages,main,master")
 	setEnvIfNotSet("PORT", "4430")
 	setEnvIfNotSet("HTTP_PORT", "8880")
 	setEnvIfNotSet("ENABLE_HTTP_SERVER", "true")
diff --git a/server/certificates/certificates.go b/server/certificates/certificates.go
index ce1420d..3ae891a 100644
--- a/server/certificates/certificates.go
+++ b/server/certificates/certificates.go
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ var ErrUserRateLimitExceeded = errors.New("rate limit exceeded: 10 certificates
 func TLSConfig(mainDomainSuffix string,
 	giteaClient *gitea.Client,
 	acmeClient *AcmeClient,
+	firstDefaultBranch string,
 	keyCache, challengeCache, dnsLookupCache, canonicalDomainCache cache.SetGetKey,
 	certDB database.CertDB,
 ) *tls.Config {
@@ -68,7 +69,7 @@ func TLSConfig(mainDomainSuffix string,
 				domain = mainDomainSuffix
 			} else {
 				var targetRepo, targetBranch string
-				targetOwner, targetRepo, targetBranch = dnsutils.GetTargetFromDNS(domain, mainDomainSuffix, dnsLookupCache)
+				targetOwner, targetRepo, targetBranch = dnsutils.GetTargetFromDNS(domain, mainDomainSuffix, firstDefaultBranch, dnsLookupCache)
 				if targetOwner == "" {
 					// DNS not set up, return main certificate to redirect to the docs
 					domain = mainDomainSuffix
diff --git a/server/dns/dns.go b/server/dns/dns.go
index 2719d4d..c11b278 100644
--- a/server/dns/dns.go
+++ b/server/dns/dns.go
@@ -11,9 +11,11 @@ import (
 // lookupCacheTimeout specifies the timeout for the DNS lookup cache.
 var lookupCacheTimeout = 15 * time.Minute
 
+var defaultPagesRepo = "pages"
+
 // GetTargetFromDNS searches for CNAME or TXT entries on the request domain ending with MainDomainSuffix.
 // If everything is fine, it returns the target data.
-func GetTargetFromDNS(domain, mainDomainSuffix string, dnsLookupCache cache.SetGetKey) (targetOwner, targetRepo, targetBranch string) {
+func GetTargetFromDNS(domain, mainDomainSuffix, firstDefaultBranch string, dnsLookupCache cache.SetGetKey) (targetOwner, targetRepo, targetBranch string) {
 	// Get CNAME or TXT
 	var cname string
 	var err error
@@ -50,10 +52,10 @@ func GetTargetFromDNS(domain, mainDomainSuffix string, dnsLookupCache cache.SetG
 		targetBranch = cnameParts[len(cnameParts)-3]
 	}
 	if targetRepo == "" {
-		targetRepo = "pages"
+		targetRepo = defaultPagesRepo
 	}
-	if targetBranch == "" && targetRepo != "pages" {
-		targetBranch = "pages"
+	if targetBranch == "" && targetRepo != defaultPagesRepo {
+		targetBranch = firstDefaultBranch
 	}
 	// if targetBranch is still empty, the caller must find the default branch
 	return
diff --git a/server/handler/handler.go b/server/handler/handler.go
index 78301e9..a944c7e 100644
--- a/server/handler/handler.go
+++ b/server/handler/handler.go
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ const (
 	headerAccessControlAllowOrigin  = "Access-Control-Allow-Origin"
 	headerAccessControlAllowMethods = "Access-Control-Allow-Methods"
 	defaultPagesRepo                = "pages"
-	defaultPagesBranch              = "pages"
 )
 
 // Handler handles a single HTTP request to the web server.
@@ -25,6 +24,7 @@ func Handler(mainDomainSuffix, rawDomain string,
 	giteaClient *gitea.Client,
 	rawInfoPage string,
 	blacklistedPaths, allowedCorsDomains []string,
+	defaultPagesBranches []string,
 	dnsLookupCache, canonicalDomainCache cache.SetGetKey,
 ) http.HandlerFunc {
 	return func(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
@@ -98,6 +98,7 @@ func Handler(mainDomainSuffix, rawDomain string,
 			log.Debug().Msg("subdomain request detecded")
 			handleSubDomain(log, ctx, giteaClient,
 				mainDomainSuffix,
+				defaultPagesBranches,
 				trimmedHost,
 				pathElements,
 				canonicalDomainCache)
@@ -107,6 +108,7 @@ func Handler(mainDomainSuffix, rawDomain string,
 				mainDomainSuffix,
 				trimmedHost,
 				pathElements,
+				defaultPagesBranches[0],
 				dnsLookupCache, canonicalDomainCache)
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/server/handler/handler_custom_domain.go b/server/handler/handler_custom_domain.go
index a541b74..1b85f62 100644
--- a/server/handler/handler_custom_domain.go
+++ b/server/handler/handler_custom_domain.go
@@ -18,10 +18,11 @@ func handleCustomDomain(log zerolog.Logger, ctx *context.Context, giteaClient *g
 	mainDomainSuffix string,
 	trimmedHost string,
 	pathElements []string,
+	firstDefaultBranch string,
 	dnsLookupCache, canonicalDomainCache cache.SetGetKey,
 ) {
 	// Serve pages from custom domains
-	targetOwner, targetRepo, targetBranch := dns.GetTargetFromDNS(trimmedHost, mainDomainSuffix, dnsLookupCache)
+	targetOwner, targetRepo, targetBranch := dns.GetTargetFromDNS(trimmedHost, mainDomainSuffix, firstDefaultBranch, dnsLookupCache)
 	if targetOwner == "" {
 		html.ReturnErrorPage(ctx,
 			"could not obtain repo owner from custom domain",
@@ -52,7 +53,7 @@ func handleCustomDomain(log zerolog.Logger, ctx *context.Context, giteaClient *g
 			return
 		} else if canonicalDomain != trimmedHost {
 			// only redirect if the target is also a codeberg page!
-			targetOwner, _, _ = dns.GetTargetFromDNS(strings.SplitN(canonicalDomain, "/", 2)[0], mainDomainSuffix, dnsLookupCache)
+			targetOwner, _, _ = dns.GetTargetFromDNS(strings.SplitN(canonicalDomain, "/", 2)[0], mainDomainSuffix, firstDefaultBranch, dnsLookupCache)
 			if targetOwner != "" {
 				ctx.Redirect("https://"+canonicalDomain+"/"+targetOpt.TargetPath, http.StatusTemporaryRedirect)
 				return
diff --git a/server/handler/handler_sub_domain.go b/server/handler/handler_sub_domain.go
index 2a75e9f..68f4822 100644
--- a/server/handler/handler_sub_domain.go
+++ b/server/handler/handler_sub_domain.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/rs/zerolog"
+	"golang.org/x/exp/slices"
 
 	"codeberg.org/codeberg/pages/html"
 	"codeberg.org/codeberg/pages/server/cache"
@@ -17,6 +18,7 @@ import (
 
 func handleSubDomain(log zerolog.Logger, ctx *context.Context, giteaClient *gitea.Client,
 	mainDomainSuffix string,
+	defaultPagesBranches []string,
 	trimmedHost string,
 	pathElements []string,
 	canonicalDomainCache cache.SetGetKey,
@@ -63,12 +65,21 @@ func handleSubDomain(log zerolog.Logger, ctx *context.Context, giteaClient *gite
 	// Check if the first directory is a branch for the defaultPagesRepo
 	// example.codeberg.page/@main/index.html
 	if strings.HasPrefix(pathElements[0], "@") {
+		targetBranch := pathElements[0][1:]
+
+		// if the default pages branch can be determined exactly, it does not need to be set
+		if len(defaultPagesBranches) == 1 && slices.Contains(defaultPagesBranches, targetBranch) {
+			// example.codeberg.org/@pages/... redirects to example.codeberg.org/...
+			ctx.Redirect("/"+strings.Join(pathElements[1:], "/"), http.StatusTemporaryRedirect)
+			return
+		}
+
 		log.Debug().Msg("main domain preparations, now trying with specified branch")
 		if targetOpt, works := tryBranch(log, ctx, giteaClient, &upstream.Options{
 			TryIndexPages: true,
 			TargetOwner:   targetOwner,
 			TargetRepo:    defaultPagesRepo,
-			TargetBranch:  pathElements[0][1:],
+			TargetBranch:  targetBranch,
 			TargetPath:    path.Join(pathElements[1:]...),
 		}, true); works {
 			log.Trace().Msg("tryUpstream: serve default pages repo with specified branch")
@@ -81,19 +92,36 @@ func handleSubDomain(log zerolog.Logger, ctx *context.Context, giteaClient *gite
 		return
 	}
 
-	// Check if the first directory is a repo with a defaultPagesRepo branch
-	// example.codeberg.page/myrepo/index.html
-	// example.codeberg.page/pages/... is not allowed here.
-	log.Debug().Msg("main domain preparations, now trying with specified repo")
-	if pathElements[0] != defaultPagesRepo {
+	for _, defaultPagesBranch := range defaultPagesBranches {
+		// Check if the first directory is a repo with a default pages branch
+		// example.codeberg.page/myrepo/index.html
+		// example.codeberg.page/{PAGES_BRANCHE}/... is not allowed here.
+		log.Debug().Msg("main domain preparations, now trying with specified repo")
+		if pathElements[0] != defaultPagesBranch {
+			if targetOpt, works := tryBranch(log, ctx, giteaClient, &upstream.Options{
+				TryIndexPages: true,
+				TargetOwner:   targetOwner,
+				TargetRepo:    pathElements[0],
+				TargetBranch:  defaultPagesBranch,
+				TargetPath:    path.Join(pathElements[1:]...),
+			}, false); works {
+				log.Debug().Msg("tryBranch, now trying upstream 5")
+				tryUpstream(ctx, giteaClient, mainDomainSuffix, trimmedHost, targetOpt, canonicalDomainCache)
+				return
+			}
+		}
+
+		// Try to use the defaultPagesRepo on an default pages branch
+		// example.codeberg.page/index.html
+		log.Debug().Msg("main domain preparations, now trying with default repo")
 		if targetOpt, works := tryBranch(log, ctx, giteaClient, &upstream.Options{
 			TryIndexPages: true,
 			TargetOwner:   targetOwner,
-			TargetRepo:    pathElements[0],
+			TargetRepo:    defaultPagesRepo,
 			TargetBranch:  defaultPagesBranch,
-			TargetPath:    path.Join(pathElements[1:]...),
+			TargetPath:    path.Join(pathElements...),
 		}, false); works {
-			log.Debug().Msg("tryBranch, now trying upstream 5")
+			log.Debug().Msg("tryBranch, now trying upstream 6")
 			tryUpstream(ctx, giteaClient, mainDomainSuffix, trimmedHost, targetOpt, canonicalDomainCache)
 			return
 		}
diff --git a/server/handler/handler_test.go b/server/handler/handler_test.go
index 626564a..ed063b2 100644
--- a/server/handler/handler_test.go
+++ b/server/handler/handler_test.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ func TestHandlerPerformance(t *testing.T) {
 		"https://docs.codeberg.org/pages/raw-content/",
 		[]string{"/.well-known/acme-challenge/"},
 		[]string{"raw.codeberg.org", "fonts.codeberg.org", "design.codeberg.org"},
+		[]string{"pages"},
 		cache.NewKeyValueCache(),
 		cache.NewKeyValueCache(),
 	)