diff --git a/build-package.sh b/build-package.sh
index 67bd9e75a..f5c6eef7b 100755
--- a/build-package.sh
+++ b/build-package.sh
@@ -89,17 +89,29 @@ source "$TERMUX_SCRIPTDIR/scripts/build/termux_download_deb.sh"
 # shellcheck source=scripts/build/termux_get_repo_files.sh
 source "$TERMUX_SCRIPTDIR/scripts/build/termux_get_repo_files.sh"
 
-# Source the package build script and start building. No to be overridden by packages.
+# Source the package build script and start building. Not to be overridden by packages.
 # shellcheck source=scripts/build/termux_step_start_build.sh
 source "$TERMUX_SCRIPTDIR/scripts/build/termux_step_start_build.sh"
 
-# Run just after sourcing $TERMUX_PKG_BUILDER_SCRIPT. May be overridden by packages.
-# shellcheck source=scripts/build/termux_step_extract_package.sh
-source "$TERMUX_SCRIPTDIR/scripts/build/termux_step_extract_package.sh"
+# Run just after sourcing $TERMUX_PKG_BUILDER_SCRIPT. Can be overridden by packages.
+# shellcheck source=scripts/build/get_source/termux_step_get_source.sh
+source "$TERMUX_SCRIPTDIR/scripts/build/get_source/termux_step_get_source.sh"
 
-# Hook for packages to act just after the package has been extracted.
-# Invoked in $TERMUX_PKG_SRCDIR.
-termux_step_post_extract_package() {
+# Run from termux_step_get_source if TERMUX_PKG_SRCURL ends with .git.
+# shellcheck source=scripts/build/get_source/termux_step_get_source.sh
+source "$TERMUX_SCRIPTDIR/scripts/build/get_source/termux_git_clone_src.sh"
+
+# Run from termux_step_get_source if TERMUX_PKG_SRCURL does not ends with .git.
+# shellcheck source=scripts/build/get_source/termux_download_src_archive.sh
+source "$TERMUX_SCRIPTDIR/scripts/build/get_source/termux_download_src_archive.sh"
+
+# Run from termux_step_get_source after termux_download_src_archive.
+# shellcheck source=scripts/build/get_source/termux_extract_src_archive.sh
+source "$TERMUX_SCRIPTDIR/scripts/build/get_source/termux_extract_src_archive.sh"
+
+# Hook for packages to act just after the package sources have been obtained.
+# Invoked from $TERMUX_PKG_SRCDIR.
+termux_step_post_get_source() {
 	return
 }
 
@@ -108,7 +120,7 @@ termux_step_post_extract_package() {
 source "$TERMUX_SCRIPTDIR/scripts/build/termux_step_handle_hostbuild.sh"
 
 # Perform a host build. Will be called in $TERMUX_PKG_HOSTBUILD_DIR.
-# After termux_step_post_extract_package() and before termux_step_patch_package()
+# After termux_step_post_get_source() and before termux_step_patch_package()
 # shellcheck source=scripts/build/termux_step_host_build.sh
 source "$TERMUX_SCRIPTDIR/scripts/build/termux_step_host_build.sh"
 
@@ -337,9 +349,10 @@ while (($# > 0)); do
 		termux_step_setup_variables
 		termux_step_handle_buildarch
 		termux_step_start_build
-		termux_step_extract_package
+                cd "$TERMUX_PKG_CACHEDIR"
+		termux_step_get_source
 		cd "$TERMUX_PKG_SRCDIR"
-		termux_step_post_extract_package
+		termux_step_post_get_source
 		termux_step_handle_hostbuild
 		termux_step_setup_toolchain
 		termux_step_patch_package
diff --git a/scripts/build/get_source/termux_download_src_archive.sh b/scripts/build/get_source/termux_download_src_archive.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..20ea68300
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/build/get_source/termux_download_src_archive.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+termux_download_src_archive() {
+	if [ -z "${TERMUX_PKG_SRCURL:=""}" ] || [ "${TERMUX_PKG_SKIP_SRC_EXTRACT-false}" = "true" ] || [ "$TERMUX_PKG_METAPACKAGE" = "true" ]; then
+		return
+	fi
+	local PKG_SRCURL=(${TERMUX_PKG_SRCURL[@]})
+	local PKG_SHA256=(${TERMUX_PKG_SHA256[@]})
+	if  [ ! ${#PKG_SRCURL[@]} == ${#PKG_SHA256[@]} ] && [ ! ${#PKG_SHA256[@]} == 0 ]; then
+		termux_error_exit "Error: length of TERMUX_PKG_SRCURL isn't equal to length of TERMUX_PKG_SHA256."
+	fi
+
+	for i in $(seq 0 $(( ${#PKG_SRCURL[@]}-1 ))); do
+		local file="$TERMUX_PKG_CACHEDIR/$(basename "${PKG_SRCURL[$i]}")"
+		if [ "${PKG_SHA256[$i]}" == "" ]; then
+			termux_download "${PKG_SRCURL[$i]}" "$file"
+		else
+			termux_download "${PKG_SRCURL[$i]}" "$file" "${PKG_SHA256[$i]}"
+		fi
+	done
+}
diff --git a/scripts/build/get_source/termux_extract_src_archive.sh b/scripts/build/get_source/termux_extract_src_archive.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c42945ea5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/build/get_source/termux_extract_src_archive.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+termux_extract_src_archive() {
+	# STRIP=1 extracts archives straight into TERMUX_PKG_SRCDIR while STRIP=0 puts them in subfolders. zip has same behaviour per default
+	# If this isn't desired then this can be fixed in termux_step_post_get_source.
+	local STRIP=1
+	local PKG_SRCURL=(${TERMUX_PKG_SRCURL[@]})
+	local PKG_SHA256=(${TERMUX_PKG_SHA256[@]})
+	for i in $(seq 0 $(( ${#PKG_SRCURL[@]}-1 ))); do
+		local file="$TERMUX_PKG_CACHEDIR/$(basename "${PKG_SRCURL[$i]}")"
+		local folder
+		set +o pipefail
+		if [ "${file##*.}" = zip ]; then
+			folder=$(unzip -qql "$file" | head -n1 | tr -s ' ' | cut -d' ' -f5-)
+			rm -Rf $folder
+			unzip -q "$file"
+			mv $folder "$TERMUX_PKG_SRCDIR"
+		else
+			test "$i" -gt 0 && STRIP=0
+			tar xf "$file" -C "$TERMUX_PKG_SRCDIR" --strip-components=$STRIP
+		fi
+		set -o pipefail
+	done
+}
diff --git a/scripts/build/get_source/termux_git_clone_src.sh b/scripts/build/get_source/termux_git_clone_src.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5b042fffa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/build/get_source/termux_git_clone_src.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+termux_git_clone_src() {
+	local CHECKED_OUT_FOLDER=$TERMUX_PKG_TMPDIR/checkout-$TERMUX_PKG_VERSION
+	local TMP_CHECKOUT=$TERMUX_PKG_CACHEDIR/tmp-checkout
+
+	# If user aborts git clone step here the folder needs to be removed
+	# manually. IMO this is better than git cloning the src everytime
+	if [ ! -d $CHECKED_OUT_FOLDER ] && [ ! -d $TMP_CHECKOUT ]; then
+		if [ "$TERMUX_PKG_GIT_BRANCH" == "" ]; then
+			TERMUX_PKG_GIT_BRANCH=v$TERMUX_PKG_VERSION
+		fi
+		git clone --depth 1 \
+			--branch $TERMUX_PKG_GIT_BRANCH \
+			$TERMUX_PKG_SRCURL \
+			$TMP_CHECKOUT
+		cd $TMP_CHECKOUT
+
+		git submodule update --init --recursive
+		cd ..
+	fi
+
+	if [ ! -d $CHECKED_OUT_FOLDER ]; then
+		cp -Rf $TMP_CHECKOUT $CHECKED_OUT_FOLDER
+	fi
+
+	rm -rf $TERMUX_PKG_SRCDIR
+	cp -Rf $CHECKED_OUT_FOLDER $TERMUX_PKG_SRCDIR
+}
diff --git a/scripts/build/get_source/termux_step_get_source.sh b/scripts/build/get_source/termux_step_get_source.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..072d2f1b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/build/get_source/termux_step_get_source.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+termux_step_get_source() {
+	if [ "${TERMUX_PKG_SRCURL: -4}" == ".git" ]; then
+		termux_git_clone_src
+	else
+		mkdir -p $TERMUX_PKG_SRCDIR            
+		termux_download_src_archive
+		cd $TERMUX_PKG_TMPDIR
+		termux_extract_src_archive
+	fi
+}
diff --git a/scripts/build/termux_step_extract_package.sh b/scripts/build/termux_step_extract_package.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index a8d3a4c61..000000000
--- a/scripts/build/termux_step_extract_package.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,38 +0,0 @@
-termux_step_extract_package() {
-	if [ -z "${TERMUX_PKG_SRCURL:=""}" ] || [ "${TERMUX_PKG_SKIP_SRC_EXTRACT-false}" = "true" ] || [ "$TERMUX_PKG_METAPACKAGE" = "true" ]; then
-		mkdir -p "$TERMUX_PKG_SRCDIR"
-		return
-	fi
-	cd "$TERMUX_PKG_TMPDIR"
-	local PKG_SRCURL=(${TERMUX_PKG_SRCURL[@]})
-	local PKG_SHA256=(${TERMUX_PKG_SHA256[@]})
-	if  [ ! ${#PKG_SRCURL[@]} == ${#PKG_SHA256[@]} ] && [ ! ${#PKG_SHA256[@]} == 0 ]; then
-		termux_error_exit "Error: length of TERMUX_PKG_SRCURL isn't equal to length of TERMUX_PKG_SHA256."
-	fi
-	# STRIP=1 extracts archives straight into TERMUX_PKG_SRCDIR while STRIP=0 puts them in subfolders. zip has same behaviour per default
-	# If this isn't desired then this can be fixed in termux_step_post_extract_package.
-	local STRIP=1
-	for i in $(seq 0 $(( ${#PKG_SRCURL[@]}-1 ))); do
-		test "$i" -gt 0 && STRIP=0
-		local filename
-		filename=$(basename "${PKG_SRCURL[$i]}")
-		local file="$TERMUX_PKG_CACHEDIR/$filename"
-		# Allow TERMUX_PKG_SHA256 to be empty:
-		set +u
-		termux_download "${PKG_SRCURL[$i]}" "$file" "${PKG_SHA256[$i]}"
-		set -u
-
-		local folder
-		set +o pipefail
-		if [ "${file##*.}" = zip ]; then
-			folder=$(unzip -qql "$file" | head -n1 | tr -s ' ' | cut -d' ' -f5-)
-			rm -Rf $folder
-			unzip -q "$file"
-			mv $folder "$TERMUX_PKG_SRCDIR"
-		else
-			mkdir -p "$TERMUX_PKG_SRCDIR"
-			tar xf "$file" -C "$TERMUX_PKG_SRCDIR" --strip-components=$STRIP
-		fi
-		set -o pipefail
-	done
-}
diff --git a/scripts/build/termux_step_setup_variables.sh b/scripts/build/termux_step_setup_variables.sh
index 416f0d266..79e14e5fb 100644
--- a/scripts/build/termux_step_setup_variables.sh
+++ b/scripts/build/termux_step_setup_variables.sh
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ termux_step_setup_variables() {
 	TERMUX_PKG_PACKAGEDIR=$TERMUX_TOPDIR/$TERMUX_PKG_NAME/package
 	TERMUX_PKG_SRCDIR=$TERMUX_TOPDIR/$TERMUX_PKG_NAME/src
 	TERMUX_PKG_SHA256=""
+        TERMUX_PKG_GIT_BRANCH="" # branch defaults to 'v$TERMUX_PKG_VERSION' unless this variable is defined
 	TERMUX_PKG_TMPDIR=$TERMUX_TOPDIR/$TERMUX_PKG_NAME/tmp
 	TERMUX_PKG_HOSTBUILD_DIR=$TERMUX_TOPDIR/$TERMUX_PKG_NAME/host-build
 	TERMUX_PKG_PLATFORM_INDEPENDENT=false