diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 868aacd..665ca62 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -59,9 +59,27 @@ the `--help` output:
       --git-dir <dir>    set the path to the repository
       --git-path <path>  set the path to the git binary
       -q, --quiet        suppress warning message if branch differs
+      -r, --regex        match <branch name> as a regular expression
       -v, --verbose      print a message if the branch matches
       -V, --version      output the version number
 
+## Additional Command Examples
+
+### Regular Expression Matching
+
+To check that the current branch starts with `release/` using a regular
+expression:
+
+```
+$ git-branch-is -r "^release/"
+Error: Current branch "master" does not match "^release/".
+$ echo $?
+1
+```
+
+Note:  Be careful to quote patterns to avoid shell expansion or special
+handling (e.g. POSIX shells expand `*` and `cmd.exe` treats `^` specially).
+
 ## API Usage
 
 To use the API with a callback function:
diff --git a/bin/git-branch-is.js b/bin/git-branch-is.js
index c4e58ee..531ce6f 100755
--- a/bin/git-branch-is.js
+++ b/bin/git-branch-is.js
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ function gitBranchIsCmd(args, callback) {
     .option('--git-dir <dir>', 'set the path to the repository')
     .option('--git-path <path>', 'set the path to the git binary')
     .option('-q, --quiet', 'suppress warning message if branch differs')
+    .option('-r, --regex', 'match <branch name> as a regular expression')
     .option('-v, --verbose', 'print a message if the branch matches')
     .version(packageJson.version)
     .parse(args);
@@ -81,13 +82,38 @@ function gitBranchIsCmd(args, callback) {
   command.gitArgs = command.gitArg;
 
   var expectedBranch = command.args[0];
+
+  var expectedBranchRegExp;
+  if (command.regex) {
+    try {
+      expectedBranchRegExp = new RegExp(expectedBranch);
+    } catch (errRegExp) {
+      callback(null, {
+        code: 2,
+        stderr: 'Error: Invalid RegExp "' + expectedBranch + '": ' +
+          errRegExp + '\n'
+      });
+      return undefined;
+    }
+  }
+
   gitBranchIs.getBranch(command, function(err, currentBranch) {
     if (err) {
       callback(err);
       return;
     }
 
-    if (currentBranch !== expectedBranch) {
+    if (expectedBranchRegExp) {
+      if (!expectedBranchRegExp.test(currentBranch)) {
+        callback(null, {
+          code: 1,
+          stderr: command.quiet ? '' :
+            'Error: Current branch "' + currentBranch + '" does not match "' +
+            expectedBranch + '".\n'
+        });
+        return;
+      }
+    } else if (currentBranch !== expectedBranch) {
       callback(null, {
         code: 1,
         stderr: command.quiet ? '' :
diff --git a/test/git-branch-is-cmd.js b/test/git-branch-is-cmd.js
index a42f440..2e65a40 100644
--- a/test/git-branch-is-cmd.js
+++ b/test/git-branch-is-cmd.js
@@ -48,6 +48,72 @@ describe('git-branch-is', function() {
     });
   });
 
+  it('exit 0 silently for matching anchored regex branch name', function(done) {
+    var args = ARGS.concat('-r', '^' + BRANCH_CURRENT + '$');
+    gitBranchIsCmd(args, function(err, result) {
+      assert.ifError(err);
+      assert.strictEqual(result.code, 0);
+      assert(!result.stdout);
+      assert(!result.stderr);
+      done();
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('exit 0 silently for matching substr regex branch name', function(done) {
+    var args = ARGS.concat('-r', BRANCH_CURRENT.slice(1, -1));
+    gitBranchIsCmd(args, function(err, result) {
+      assert.ifError(err);
+      assert.strictEqual(result.code, 0);
+      assert(!result.stdout);
+      assert(!result.stderr);
+      done();
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('exit 0 silently for matching empty regex branch name', function(done) {
+    var args = ARGS.concat('-r', '');
+    gitBranchIsCmd(args, function(err, result) {
+      assert.ifError(err);
+      assert.strictEqual(result.code, 0);
+      assert(!result.stdout);
+      assert(!result.stderr);
+      done();
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('exit 1 with warning for non-match regex branch name', function(done) {
+    gitBranchIsCmd(ARGS.concat('-r', 'invalid'), function(err, result) {
+      assert.ifError(err);
+      assert.strictEqual(result.code, 1);
+      assert(!result.stdout);
+      assertMatch(result.stderr, /\binvalid\b/);
+      assertMatch(result.stderr, BRANCH_CURRENT_RE);
+      done();
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('exit 2 with warning for invalid regex', function(done) {
+    gitBranchIsCmd(ARGS.concat('-r', 'b[ad'), function(err, result) {
+      assert.ifError(err);
+      assert.strictEqual(result.code, 2);
+      assert(!result.stdout);
+      assertMatch(result.stderr, /\bb\[ad\b/);
+      done();
+    });
+  });
+
+  // --quiet does not suppress notification of caller errors
+  // If this behavior is desired, consider using repeated -q option.
+  it('exit 2 with warning for invalid regex with quiet', function(done) {
+    gitBranchIsCmd(ARGS.concat('-q', '-r', 'b[ad'), function(err, result) {
+      assert.ifError(err);
+      assert.strictEqual(result.code, 2);
+      assert(!result.stdout);
+      assertMatch(result.stderr, /\bb\[ad\b/);
+      done();
+    });
+  });
+
   it('exit code 1 silently with quiet option', function(done) {
     var args = ARGS.concat('-q', 'invalid');
     gitBranchIsCmd(args, function(err, result) {