diff --git a/builtin-update-index.c b/builtin-update-index.c
index 09214c8a11..7f9c638466 100644
--- a/builtin-update-index.c
+++ b/builtin-update-index.c
@@ -112,11 +112,13 @@ static int add_file_to_cache(const char *path)
 	ce->ce_mode = create_ce_mode(st.st_mode);
 	if (!trust_executable_bit) {
 		/* If there is an existing entry, pick the mode bits
-		 * from it.
+		 * from it, otherwise force to 644.
 		 */
 		int pos = cache_name_pos(path, namelen);
 		if (0 <= pos)
 			ce->ce_mode = active_cache[pos]->ce_mode;
+		else
+			ce->ce_mode = create_ce_mode(S_IFREG | 0644);
 	}
 
 	if (index_path(ce->sha1, path, &st, !info_only))
diff --git a/git-checkout.sh b/git-checkout.sh
index f03620b054..119bca1ffb 100755
--- a/git-checkout.sh
+++ b/git-checkout.sh
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ USAGE='[-f] [-b <new_branch>] [-m] [<branch>] [<paths>...]'
 SUBDIRECTORY_OK=Sometimes
 . git-sh-setup
 
-old=$(git-rev-parse HEAD)
 old_name=HEAD
+old=$(git-rev-parse --verify $old_name 2>/dev/null)
 new=
 new_name=
 force=
@@ -140,6 +140,13 @@ fi
 	die "git checkout: to checkout the requested commit you need to specify 
               a name for a new branch which is created and switched to"
 
+if [ "X$old" = X ]
+then
+	echo "warning: You do not appear to currently be on a branch." >&2
+	echo "warning: Forcing checkout of $new_name." >&2
+	force=1
+fi
+
 if [ "$force" ]
 then
     git-read-tree --reset -u $new
diff --git a/git-svn.perl b/git-svn.perl
index 017f45ac97..f5c7d46341 100755
--- a/git-svn.perl
+++ b/git-svn.perl
@@ -1247,6 +1247,7 @@ sub assert_svn_wc_clean {
 	}
 	my @status = grep(!/^Performing status on external/,(`svn status`));
 	@status = grep(!/^\s*$/,@status);
+	@status = grep(!/^X/,@status) if $_no_ignore_ext;
 	if (scalar @status) {
 		print STDERR "Tree ($SVN_WC) is not clean:\n";
 		print STDERR $_ foreach @status;
diff --git a/gitweb/gitweb.perl b/gitweb/gitweb.perl
index 9349fa1cb3..8a9a2547d3 100755
--- a/gitweb/gitweb.perl
+++ b/gitweb/gitweb.perl
@@ -657,7 +657,7 @@ sub format_subject_html {
 
 	if (length($short) < length($long)) {
 		return $cgi->a({-href => $href, -class => "list subject",
-		                -title => $long},
+		                -title => decode("utf8", $long, Encode::FB_DEFAULT)},
 		       esc_html($short) . $extra);
 	} else {
 		return $cgi->a({-href => $href, -class => "list subject"},
diff --git a/read-cache.c b/read-cache.c
index 20c9d494ac..97c38670b4 100644
--- a/read-cache.c
+++ b/read-cache.c
@@ -347,11 +347,13 @@ int add_file_to_index(const char *path, int verbose)
 	ce->ce_mode = create_ce_mode(st.st_mode);
 	if (!trust_executable_bit) {
 		/* If there is an existing entry, pick the mode bits
-		 * from it.
+		 * from it, otherwise force to 644.
 		 */
 		int pos = cache_name_pos(path, namelen);
 		if (pos >= 0)
 			ce->ce_mode = active_cache[pos]->ce_mode;
+		else
+			ce->ce_mode = create_ce_mode(S_IFREG | 0644);
 	}
 
 	if (index_path(ce->sha1, path, &st, 1))
diff --git a/t/t3700-add.sh b/t/t3700-add.sh
index 6cd05c3d90..d36f22d7de 100755
--- a/t/t3700-add.sh
+++ b/t/t3700-add.sh
@@ -19,4 +19,26 @@ test_expect_success \
     'Test that "git-add -- -q" works' \
     'touch -- -q && git-add -- -q'
 
+test_expect_success \
+	'git-add: Test that executable bit is not used if core.filemode=0' \
+	'git repo-config core.filemode 0 &&
+	 echo foo >xfoo1 &&
+	 chmod 755 xfoo1 &&
+	 git-add xfoo1 &&
+	 case "`git-ls-files --stage xfoo1`" in
+	 100644" "*xfoo1) echo ok;;
+	 *) echo fail; git-ls-files --stage xfoo1; exit 1;;
+	 esac'
+
+test_expect_success \
+	'git-update-index --add: Test that executable bit is not used...' \
+	'git repo-config core.filemode 0 &&
+	 echo foo >xfoo2 &&
+	 chmod 755 xfoo2 &&
+	 git-add xfoo2 &&
+	 case "`git-ls-files --stage xfoo2`" in
+	 100644" "*xfoo2) echo ok;;
+	 *) echo fail; git-ls-files --stage xfoo2; exit 1;;
+	 esac'
+
 test_done
diff --git a/t/t7201-co.sh b/t/t7201-co.sh
index b64e8b7d77..085d4a096b 100755
--- a/t/t7201-co.sh
+++ b/t/t7201-co.sh
@@ -31,6 +31,15 @@ test_expect_success setup '
 	git checkout master
 '
 
+test_expect_success "checkout from non-existing branch" '
+
+	git checkout -b delete-me master &&
+	rm .git/refs/heads/delete-me &&
+	test refs/heads/delete-me = "$(git symbolic-ref HEAD)" &&
+	git checkout master &&
+	test refs/heads/master = "$(git symbolic-ref HEAD)"
+'
+
 test_expect_success "checkout with dirty tree without -m" '
 
 	fill 0 1 2 3 4 5 >one &&