diff --git a/contrib/brew/brew/__init__.py b/contrib/brew/brew/__init__.py
index f693ad67a4..a9476ff5a4 100644
--- a/contrib/brew/brew/__init__.py
+++ b/contrib/brew/brew/__init__.py
@@ -1 +1 @@
-from brew import build_library
+from brew import build_library, DEFAULT_REPOSITORY, DEFAULT_BRANCH
diff --git a/contrib/brew/brew/brew.py b/contrib/brew/brew/brew.py
index 69529201d6..ab0b886b2c 100644
--- a/contrib/brew/brew/brew.py
+++ b/contrib/brew/brew/brew.py
@@ -10,22 +10,30 @@ DEFAULT_BRANCH = 'library'
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 logging.basicConfig(format='%(asctime)s %(levelname)s %(message)s',
-                    level='DEBUG')
+                    level='INFO')
 client = docker.Client()
 processed = {}
 
 
-def build_library(repository=None, branch=None, namespace=None, push=False):
+def build_library(repository=None, branch=None, namespace=None, push=False,
+        debug=False):
     if repository is None:
         repository = DEFAULT_REPOSITORY
     if branch is None:
         branch = DEFAULT_BRANCH
+    if debug:
+        logger.setLevel('DEBUG')
+
+    if not (repository.startswith('https://') or repository.startswith('git://')):
+        logger.info('Repository provided assumed to be a local path')
+        dst_folder = repository
 
-    logger.info('Cloning docker repo from {0}, branch: {1}'.format(
-        repository, branch))
     #FIXME: set destination folder and only pull latest changes instead of
     # cloning the whole repo everytime
-    dst_folder = git.clone_branch(repository, branch)
+    if not dst_folder:
+        logger.info('Cloning docker repo from {0}, branch: {1}'.format(
+            repository, branch))
+        dst_folder = git.clone_branch(repository, branch)
     for buildfile in os.listdir(os.path.join(dst_folder, 'library')):
         if buildfile == 'MAINTAINERS':
             continue
diff --git a/contrib/brew/docker-brew b/contrib/brew/docker-brew
index d1843d412b..3bcd99a3ad 100755
--- a/contrib/brew/docker-brew
+++ b/contrib/brew/docker-brew
@@ -5,21 +5,20 @@ import argparse
 import brew
 
 
-DEFAULT_REPOSITORY = 'git://github.com/dotcloud/docker'
-DEFAULT_BRANCH = 'library'
-
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser('Build the docker standard library')
     parser.add_argument('--push', action='store_true', default=False,
         help='push generated repositories to the official registry')
+    parser.add_argument('--debug', default=False, action='store_true',
+        help='Enable debugging output')
     parser.add_argument('-n', metavar='NAMESPACE', default='library',
         help='namespace used for generated repositories.'
         ' Default is library')
-    parser.add_argument('-b', metavar='BRANCH', default=DEFAULT_BRANCH,
+    parser.add_argument('-b', metavar='BRANCH', default=brew.DEFAULT_BRANCH,
         help='branch in the repository where the library definition'
-        ' files will be fetched. Default is ' + DEFAULT_BRANCH)
-    parser.add_argument('repository', default=DEFAULT_REPOSITORY, nargs='?',
-        help='git repository containing the library definition files.'
-        ' Default is ' + DEFAULT_REPOSITORY)
+        ' files will be fetched. Default is ' + brew.DEFAULT_BRANCH)
+    parser.add_argument('repository', default=brew.DEFAULT_REPOSITORY,
+        nargs='?', help='git repository containing the library definition'
+        ' files. Default is ' + brew.DEFAULT_REPOSITORY)
     args = parser.parse_args()
-    brew.build_library(args.repository, args.b, args.n, args.push)
\ No newline at end of file
+    brew.build_library(args.repository, args.b, args.n, args.push, args.debug)