diff --git a/newt/cli/project_cmds.go b/newt/cli/project_cmds.go
index 92d40a574..9a742462e 100644
--- a/newt/cli/project_cmds.go
+++ b/newt/cli/project_cmds.go
@@ -131,6 +131,7 @@ func upgradeRunCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 	interfaces.SetProject(proj)
 
 	proj.GetPkgRepos()
+	proj.SetGitEnvVariables()
 
 	pred := makeRepoPredicate(args)
 	if err := proj.UpgradeIf(
diff --git a/newt/downloader/downloader.go b/newt/downloader/downloader.go
index eea3249a8..2be323a14 100644
--- a/newt/downloader/downloader.go
+++ b/newt/downloader/downloader.go
@@ -97,6 +97,10 @@ type Downloader interface {
 	// If such a commit exists, it is returned.  Otherwise, "" is returned.
 	LatestRc(path string, base string) (string, error)
 
+	// Applies patches provided inside "patches" directory.
+	// If no patch is provided function does nothing
+	ApplyPatches(path string, patches []string) error
+
 	// Returns the branch that contains the YAML control files; this option
 	// allows implementers to override "master" as the main branch.
 	MainBranch() string
@@ -451,6 +455,26 @@ func (gd *GenericDownloader) Checkout(repoDir string, commit string) error {
 	return err
 }
 
+func (gd *GenericDownloader) ApplyPatches(repoDir string, patches []string) error {
+	cmd := []string{
+		"am",
+	}
+	cmd = append(cmd, patches...)
+
+	_, err := executeGitCommand(repoDir, cmd, true)
+	if err != nil {
+		// Abort git am if applying patches failed
+		cmd = []string{
+			"am",
+			"--abort",
+		}
+		executeGitCommand(repoDir, cmd, true)
+
+		return err
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // Update one submodule tree in a repo (under path)
 func (gd *GenericDownloader) UpdateSubmodule(path string, submodule string) error {
 	cmd := []string{
diff --git a/newt/install/install.go b/newt/install/install.go
index 8eebff098..aa63fd657 100644
--- a/newt/install/install.go
+++ b/newt/install/install.go
@@ -602,6 +602,16 @@ func (inst *Installer) Upgrade(candidates []*repo.Repo, force bool,
 			r.Name(), destVer.String())
 	}
 
+	for _, r := range candidates {
+		err = r.ApplyPatches()
+		if err != nil {
+			util.StatusMessage(util.VERBOSITY_DEFAULT,
+				"Applying patches in repository %s failed\n", r.Name())
+
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/newt/project/project.go b/newt/project/project.go
index 78651f572..b285e6644 100644
--- a/newt/project/project.go
+++ b/newt/project/project.go
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ import (
 var globalProject *Project = nil
 
 const PROJECT_FILE_NAME = "project.yml"
+const PATCHES_DIR = "patches"
 
 var ignoreSearchDirs []string = []string{
 	"bin",
@@ -95,7 +96,7 @@ func initProject(dir string, download bool) error {
 
 	if download {
 		err = globalProject.UpgradeIf(newtutil.NewtForce, newtutil.NewtAsk,
-			                      func(r *repo.Repo) bool { return !r.IsExternal(r.Path()) })
+			func(r *repo.Repo) bool { return !r.IsExternal(r.Path()) })
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -182,7 +183,6 @@ func (proj *Project) isRepoAdded(r *repo.Repo) bool {
 }
 
 func (proj *Project) GetPkgRepos() error {
-
 	for _, pkgList := range proj.packages {
 		for _, pkg := range *pkgList {
 			if pkg.PkgConfig().HasKey("repository") {
@@ -215,6 +215,21 @@ func (proj *Project) GetPkgRepos() error {
 							}
 							proj.rootRepoReqs[repoName] = verReq
 						}
+
+						if _, err := os.Stat(pkg.BasePath() + "/" + PATCHES_DIR + "/" + r.Name()); os.IsNotExist(err) {
+							continue
+						} else {
+							dirEntries, err := os.ReadDir(pkg.BasePath() + "/" + PATCHES_DIR + "/" + r.Name())
+							if err != nil {
+								return err
+							}
+
+							for _, e := range dirEntries {
+								if strings.HasSuffix(e.Name(), ".patch") {
+									r.AddPatch(pkg.BasePath() + "/" + PATCHES_DIR + "/" + r.Name() + "/" + e.Name())
+								}
+							}
+						}
 					}
 				}
 			}
@@ -223,6 +238,19 @@ func (proj *Project) GetPkgRepos() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func (proj *Project) SetGitEnvVariables() error {
+	err := os.Setenv("GIT_COMMITTER_NAME", "newt")
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	err = os.Setenv("GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL", "dev@mynewt.apache.org")
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 func (proj *Project) Path() string {
 	return proj.BasePath
 }
diff --git a/newt/repo/repo.go b/newt/repo/repo.go
index e1b5e6e04..791656714 100644
--- a/newt/repo/repo.go
+++ b/newt/repo/repo.go
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ const REPO_DEFAULT_PERMS = 0755
 
 const REPO_FILE_NAME = "repository.yml"
 const REPOS_DIR = "repos"
+const PATCHES_DIR = "patches"
 
 type Repo struct {
 	name       string
@@ -76,6 +77,10 @@ type Repo struct {
 
 	hasSubmodules bool
 	submodules    []string
+
+	// Used with external repos. If package that adds external repository provides patches for it,
+	// the paths to them are going to be stored here.
+	patches []string
 }
 
 type RepoDependency struct {
@@ -124,6 +129,19 @@ func (r *Repo) Downloader() downloader.Downloader {
 	return r.downloader
 }
 
+func (r *Repo) AddPatch(path string) {
+	r.patches = append(r.patches, path)
+}
+
+func (r *Repo) ApplyPatches() error {
+	if len(r.patches) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	err := r.Downloader().ApplyPatches(r.Path(), r.patches)
+	return err
+}
+
 func (repo *Repo) FilteredSearchList(
 	curPath string, searchedMap map[string]struct{}) ([]string, error) {