diff --git a/Annex/Content.hs b/Annex/Content.hs
index 44e5bb1064..5985bf2273 100644
--- a/Annex/Content.hs
+++ b/Annex/Content.hs
@@ -439,10 +439,20 @@ saveState nocommit = doSideAction $ do
 
 {- Downloads content from any of a list of urls. -}
 downloadUrl :: [Url.URLString] -> FilePath -> Annex Bool
-downloadUrl urls file = do
-	o <- map Param . annexWebOptions <$> Annex.getGitConfig
-	headers <- getHttpHeaders
-	liftIO $ anyM (\u -> Url.download u headers o file) urls
+downloadUrl urls file = go =<< annexWebDownloadCommand <$> Annex.getGitConfig
+  where
+  	go Nothing = do
+		opts <- map Param . annexWebOptions <$> Annex.getGitConfig
+		headers <- getHttpHeaders
+		liftIO $ anyM (\u -> Url.download u headers opts file) urls
+	go (Just basecmd) = liftIO $ anyM (downloadcmd basecmd) urls
+	downloadcmd basecmd url =
+		boolSystem "sh" [Param "-c", Param $ gencmd basecmd url]
+			<&&> doesFileExist file
+	gencmd basecmd url = 
+		replace "%file" (shellEscape file) $
+			replace "%url" (shellEscape url)
+				basecmd
 
 {- Copies a key's content, when present, to a temp file.
  - This is used to speed up some rsyncs. -}
diff --git a/Types/GitConfig.hs b/Types/GitConfig.hs
index c06e3ec6e6..ee818574b7 100644
--- a/Types/GitConfig.hs
+++ b/Types/GitConfig.hs
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ data GitConfig = GitConfig
 	, annexHttpHeadersCommand :: Maybe String
 	, annexAutoCommit :: Bool
 	, annexWebOptions :: [String]
+	, annexWebDownloadCommand :: Maybe String
 	, annexCrippledFileSystem :: Bool
 	, annexLargeFiles :: Maybe String
 	, coreSymlinks :: Bool
@@ -59,6 +60,7 @@ extractGitConfig r = GitConfig
 	, annexHttpHeadersCommand = getmaybe (annex "http-headers-command")
 	, annexAutoCommit = getbool (annex "autocommit") True
 	, annexWebOptions = getwords (annex "web-options")
+	, annexWebDownloadCommand = getmaybe (annex "web-download-command")
 	, annexCrippledFileSystem = getbool (annex "crippledfilesystem") False
 	, annexLargeFiles = getmaybe (annex "largefiles")
 	, coreSymlinks = getbool "core.symlinks" True
diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index c0a31ccaa1..1549a12ed4 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ git-annex (4.20130406) UNRELEASED; urgency=low
   * webapp: New --listen= option allows running the webapp on one computer
     and connecting to it from another. (Note: Does not yet use HTTPS.)
   * webapp: When a repository's group is changed, rescan for transfers.
+  * Added annex.web-download-command setting.
 
  -- Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org>  Sat, 06 Apr 2013 15:24:15 -0400
 
diff --git a/doc/git-annex.mdwn b/doc/git-annex.mdwn
index 83ed782573..9331631334 100644
--- a/doc/git-annex.mdwn
+++ b/doc/git-annex.mdwn
@@ -966,7 +966,7 @@ Here are all the supported configuration settings.
 * `annex.web-options`
 
   Options to use when using wget or curl to download a file from the web.
-  (wget is always used in preference to curl if available).
+  (wget is always used in preference to curl if available.)
   For example, to force ipv4 only, set it to "-4"
 
 * `annex.http-headers`
@@ -979,6 +979,16 @@ Here are all the supported configuration settings.
   If set, the command is run and each line of its output is used as a HTTP
   header. This overrides annex.http-headers.
 
+* `annex.web-download-command`
+
+  Use to specify a command to run to download a file from the web.
+  (The default is to use wget or curl.)
+
+  In the command line, %url is replaced with the url to download,
+  and %file is replaced with the file that it should be saved to.
+  Note that both these values will automatically be quoted, since
+  the command is run in a shell.
+
 * `remote.<name>.rsyncurl`
 
   Used by rsync special remotes, this configures