diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index 6f100537e..70490a641 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -994,6 +994,11 @@ _.uniqueId('contact_');
         variables. If you're writing a one-off, you can pass the <b>context</b>
         object as the second parameter to <b>template</b> in order to render
         immediately instead of returning a template function.
+        <br />
+        If the <i>&lt;% &hellip; %&gt;</i> syntax is not convenient because 
+        your templating languages assigns special meaning to it, the delimeters
+        can be customized by passing an object as the first argument. See the
+        code sample below for options.
       </p>
       <pre>
 var compiled = _.template("hello: &lt;%= name %&gt;");
@@ -1003,6 +1008,15 @@ compiled({name : 'moe'});
 var list = "&lt;% _.each(people, function(name) { %&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;%= name %&gt;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;% }); %&gt;";
 _.template(list, {people : ['moe', 'curly', 'larry']});
 =&gt; "&lt;li&gt;moe&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;curly&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;larry&lt;/li&gt;"
+
+var custom = "{{ _.each(people, function(name) { }} &lt;li&gt;{{= name }}&lt;/li&gt; {{ }); }}";
+_.template({
+	template: custom,
+	start: '{{', // the code start delimeter
+	end: '}}', // the code end delimeter
+	interpolate: /\{\{=(.+?)\}\}/g // a regex with 1 capture group for the var name
+}, {people : ['moe', 'curly', 'larry']});
+=&gt; "&lt;li&gt;moe&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;curly&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;larry&lt;/li&gt;"
 </pre>
 
       <h2>Chaining</h2>
diff --git a/test/utility.js b/test/utility.js
index 7b1357dcf..93263c9c6 100644
--- a/test/utility.js
+++ b/test/utility.js
@@ -39,8 +39,23 @@ $(document).ready(function() {
     result = fancyTemplate({people : {moe : "Moe", larry : "Larry", curly : "Curly"}});
     equals(result, "<ul><li>Moe</li><li>Larry</li><li>Curly</li></ul>", 'can run arbitrary javascript in templates');
 
+    var custom = _.template({
+    	template: "<ul>{{ for (key in people) { }}<li>{{= people[key] }}</li>{{ } }}</ul>",
+    	start: "{{",	end: "}}",
+    	interpolate: /\{\{=(.+?)\}\}/g
+	});
+    result = custom({people : {moe : "Moe", larry : "Larry", curly : "Curly"}});
+    equals(result, "<ul><li>Moe</li><li>Larry</li><li>Curly</li></ul>", 'can run arbitrary javascript in templates');
+
     var quoteTemplate = _.template("It's its, not it's");
     equals(quoteTemplate({}), "It's its, not it's");
+
+    var customQuote = _.template({
+    	template: "It's its, not it's",
+    	start: "{{",	end: "}}",
+    	interpolate: /\{\{=(.+?)\}\}/g
+	});
+    equals(customQuote({}), "It's its, not it's");
   });
 
 });
diff --git a/underscore.js b/underscore.js
index 4385967c6..c0f901651 100644
--- a/underscore.js
+++ b/underscore.js
@@ -563,16 +563,24 @@
   // "Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja", page 83.
   // Single-quote fix from Rick Strahl's version.
   _.template = function(str, data) {
+	var start = '<%', end = '%>',
+	  interpolate = /<%=(.+?)%>/g;
+	if(str && !_.isString(str)) {
+	  start = str.start || start;
+	  end = str.end || end;
+	  interpolate = str.interpolate || interpolate;  		
+	  str = str.template;
+	}
     var fn = new Function('obj',
       'var p=[],print=function(){p.push.apply(p,arguments);};' +
       'with(obj){p.push(\'' +
       str.replace(/[\r\t\n]/g, " ")
-         .replace(/'(?=[^%]*%>)/g,"\t")
+         .replace(new RegExp("'(?=[^"+end[0]+"]*"+end+")","g"),"\t")
          .split("'").join("\\'")
          .split("\t").join("'")
-         .replace(/<%=(.+?)%>/g, "',$1,'")
-         .split("<%").join("');")
-         .split("%>").join("p.push('")
+         .replace(interpolate, "',$1,'")
+         .split(start).join("');")
+         .split(end).join("p.push('")
          + "');}return p.join('');");
     return data ? fn(data) : fn;
   };