diff --git a/features/include_tag.feature b/features/include_tag.feature
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..66f9d4a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/features/include_tag.feature
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+Feature: Include tags
+  In order to share their content across several pages
+  As a hacker who likes to blog
+  I want to be able to include files in my blog posts
+
+  Scenario: Include a file with parameters
+    Given I have an _includes directory
+    And I have an "_includes/header.html" file that contains "<header>My awesome blog header: {{include.param}}</header>"
+    And I have an "_includes/params.html" file that contains "Parameters:<ul>{% for param in include %}<li>{{param[0]}} = {{param[1]}}</li>{% endfor %}</ul>"
+    And I have an "_includes/ignore.html" file that contains "<footer>My blog footer</footer>"
+    And I have a _posts directory
+    And I have the following post:
+      | title                               | date       | layout  | content |
+      | Include Files                       | 2013-03-21 | default | {% include header.html param="myparam" %} |
+      | Ignore params if unused             | 2013-03-21 | default | {% include ignore.html date="today" %} |
+      | List multiple parameters            | 2013-03-21 | default | {% include params.html date="today" start="tomorrow" %} |
+      | Dont keep parameters                | 2013-03-21 | default | {% include ignore.html param="test" %}\n{% include header.html %} |
+      | Allow params with spaces and quotes | 2013-04-07 | default | {% include params.html cool="param with spaces" super="\"quoted\"" single='has "quotes"' escaped='\'single\' quotes' %} |
+      | Parameter syntax                    | 2013-04-12 | default | {% include params.html param1_or_2="value" %} |
+      | Pass a variable                     | 2013-06-22 | default | {% assign var = 'some text' %}{% include params.html local=var layout=page.layout %} |
+    When I run jekyll
+    Then the _site directory should exist
+    And I should see "<header>My awesome blog header: myparam</header>" in "_site/2013/03/21/include-files.html"
+    And I should not see "myparam" in "_site/2013/03/21/ignore-params-if-unused.html"
+    And I should see "<li>date = today</li>" in "_site/2013/03/21/list-multiple-parameters.html"
+    And I should see "<li>start = tomorrow</li>" in "_site/2013/03/21/list-multiple-parameters.html"
+    And I should not see "<header>My awesome blog header: myparam</header>" in "_site/2013/03/21/dont-keep-parameters.html"
+    But I should see "<header>My awesome blog header: </header>" in "_site/2013/03/21/dont-keep-parameters.html"
+    And I should see "<li>cool = param with spaces</li>" in "_site/2013/04/07/allow-params-with-spaces-and-quotes.html"
+    And I should see "<li>super = &#8220;quoted&#8221;</li>" in "_site/2013/04/07/allow-params-with-spaces-and-quotes.html"
+    And I should see "<li>single = has &#8220;quotes&#8221;</li>" in "_site/2013/04/07/allow-params-with-spaces-and-quotes.html"
+    And I should see "<li>escaped = &#8216;single&#8217; quotes</li>" in "_site/2013/04/07/allow-params-with-spaces-and-quotes.html"
+    And I should see "<li>param1_or_2 = value</li>" in "_site/2013/04/12/parameter-syntax.html"
+    And I should see "<li>local = some text</li>" in "_site/2013/06/22/pass-a-variable.html"
+    And I should see "<li>layout = default</li>" in "_site/2013/06/22/pass-a-variable.html"
diff --git a/features/step_definitions/jekyll_steps.rb b/features/step_definitions/jekyll_steps.rb
index 1dca32d9..9208c4ec 100644
--- a/features/step_definitions/jekyll_steps.rb
+++ b/features/step_definitions/jekyll_steps.rb
@@ -143,6 +143,10 @@ Then /^I should see "(.*)" in "(.*)"$/ do |text, file|
   assert Regexp.new(text).match(File.open(file).readlines.join)
 end
 
+Then /^I should not see "(.*)" in "(.*)"$/ do |text, file|
+  assert_no_match Regexp.new(text), File.read(file)
+end
+
 Then /^I should see escaped "(.*)" in "(.*)"$/ do |text, file|
   assert Regexp.new(Regexp.escape(text)).match(File.open(file).readlines.join)
 end
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/tags/include.rb b/lib/jekyll/tags/include.rb
index 3c2fa984..ce1350b1 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/tags/include.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/tags/include.rb
@@ -1,9 +1,51 @@
 module Jekyll
   module Tags
     class IncludeTag < Liquid::Tag
-      def initialize(tag_name, file, tokens)
+
+      MATCHER = /([\w-]+)\s*=\s*(?:"([^"\\]*(?:\\.[^"\\]*)*)"|'([^'\\]*(?:\\.[^'\\]*)*)'|([\w\.-]+))/
+
+      def initialize(tag_name, markup, tokens)
         super
-        @file = file.strip
+        @file, @params = markup.strip.split(' ', 2);
+      end
+
+      def parse_params(context)
+        validate_syntax
+
+        params = {}
+        markup = @params
+
+        while match = MATCHER.match(markup) do
+          markup = markup[match.end(0)..-1]
+
+          value = if match[2]
+            match[2].gsub(/\\"/, '"')
+          elsif match[3]
+            match[3].gsub(/\\'/, "'")
+          elsif match[4]
+            context[match[4]]
+          end
+
+          params[match[1]] = value
+        end
+        params
+      end
+
+      # ensure the entire markup string from start to end is valid syntax, and params are separated by spaces
+      def validate_syntax
+        full_matcher = Regexp.compile('\A\s*(?:' + MATCHER.to_s + '(?=\s|\z)\s*)*\z')
+        unless @params =~ full_matcher
+          raise SyntaxError.new <<-eos
+Invalid syntax for include tag:
+
+	#{@params}
+
+Valid syntax:
+
+	{% include file.ext param='value' param2="value" %}
+
+eos
+        end
       end
 
       def render(context)
@@ -22,7 +64,9 @@ module Jekyll
           if choices.include?(@file)
             source = File.read(@file)
             partial = Liquid::Template.parse(source)
+
             context.stack do
+              context['include'] = parse_params(context) if @params
               partial.render(context)
             end
           else
diff --git a/site/docs/templates.md b/site/docs/templates.md
index aa440ed4..b1152c3b 100644
--- a/site/docs/templates.md
+++ b/site/docs/templates.md
@@ -192,6 +192,18 @@ Jekyll expects all include files to be placed in an `_includes` directory at the
 root of your source directory. This will embed the contents of
 `<source>/_includes/sig.md` into the calling file.
 
+You can also pass parameters to an include:
+
+{% highlight ruby %}
+{% raw %}{% include sig.textile param="value" %}{% endraw %}
+{% endhighlight %}
+
+These parameters are available via Liquid in the include:
+
+{% highlight ruby %}
+{% raw %}{{ include.param }}{% endraw %}
+{% endhighlight %}
+
 ### Code snippet highlighting
 
 Jekyll has built in support for syntax highlighting of [over 100
diff --git a/test/source/_includes/params.html b/test/source/_includes/params.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..65a00018
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/source/_includes/params.html
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+<span id='include-param'>{{include.param}}</span>
+
+<ul id='param-list'>
+  {% for param in include %}
+    <li>{{param[0]}} = {{param[1]}}</li>
+  {% endfor %}
+</ul>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/test_tags.rb b/test/test_tags.rb
index fd2df409..d0992873 100644
--- a/test/test_tags.rb
+++ b/test/test_tags.rb
@@ -347,4 +347,94 @@ CONTENT
       end
     end
   end
+
+  context "include tag with parameters" do
+    context "with one parameter" do
+      setup do
+        content = <<CONTENT
+---
+title: Include tag parameters
+---
+
+{% include sig.markdown myparam="test" %}
+
+{% include params.html param="value" %}
+CONTENT
+        create_post(content, {'permalink' => 'pretty', 'source' => source_dir, 'destination' => dest_dir, 'read_posts' => true})
+      end
+
+      should "correctly output include variable" do
+        assert_match "<span id='include-param'>value</span>", @result.strip
+      end
+
+      should "ignore parameters if unused" do
+        assert_match "<hr />\n<p>Tom Preston-Werner github.com/mojombo</p>\n", @result
+      end
+    end
+
+    context "with invalid parameter syntax" do
+      should "throw a SyntaxError" do
+        content = <<CONTENT
+---
+title: Invalid parameter syntax
+---
+
+{% include params.html param s="value" %}
+CONTENT
+        assert_raise SyntaxError, 'Did not raise exception on invalid "include" syntax' do
+          create_post(content, {'permalink' => 'pretty', 'source' => source_dir, 'destination' => dest_dir, 'read_posts' => true})
+        end
+
+        content = <<CONTENT
+---
+title: Invalid parameter syntax
+---
+
+{% include params.html params="value %}
+CONTENT
+        assert_raise SyntaxError, 'Did not raise exception on invalid "include" syntax' do
+          create_post(content, {'permalink' => 'pretty', 'source' => source_dir, 'destination' => dest_dir, 'read_posts' => true})
+        end
+      end
+    end
+
+    context "with several parameters" do
+      setup do
+        content = <<CONTENT
+---
+title: multiple include parameters
+---
+
+{% include params.html param1="new_value" param2="another" %}
+CONTENT
+        create_post(content, {'permalink' => 'pretty', 'source' => source_dir, 'destination' => dest_dir, 'read_posts' => true})
+      end
+
+      should "list all parameters" do
+        assert_match '<li>param1 = new_value</li>', @result
+        assert_match '<li>param2 = another</li>', @result
+      end
+
+      should "not include previously used parameters" do
+        assert_match "<span id='include-param' />", @result
+      end
+    end
+
+    context "without parameters" do
+      setup do
+        content = <<CONTENT
+---
+title: without parameters
+---
+
+{% include params.html %}
+CONTENT
+        create_post(content, {'permalink' => 'pretty', 'source' => source_dir, 'destination' => dest_dir, 'read_posts' => true})
+      end
+
+      should "include file with empty parameters" do
+        assert_match "<span id='include-param' />", @result
+      end
+    end
+  end
 end