diff --git a/docs/configuration.rst b/docs/configuration.rst
index 98ac8a16..73850e29 100644
--- a/docs/configuration.rst
+++ b/docs/configuration.rst
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@ This is what the default configuration looks like:
     # Determines whether remote or local git branches/tags are preferred if their output dirs conflict
     smv_prefer_remote_refs = False
 
+    # Callable for transforming the list of matching refs (set to None to do no transformation)
+    smv_refs_filter_fn = None
+
 You can override all of these values inside your :file:`conf.py`.
 
 .. note::
@@ -106,6 +109,32 @@ Here are some examples:
     Have a look at `PyFormat <python_format_>`_ for information how to use new-style Python formatting.
 
 
+Arbitrary filtering of git refs
+===============================
+
+In some cases the regexes above may be insufficient to determine which git refs to build, for instance to build only the most recent N builds. For those cases the ``smv_refs_filter_fn`` setting may be set to a Python function which filters, sorts, and transforms the list of matching git refs.
+
+For example:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    # Keep main and the most recent 5 releases
+    def git_ref_filter(git_refs):
+      main_ref = None
+      release_refs = []
+      for git_ref in git_refs:
+        if git_ref.name == "main":
+          main_ref = git_ref
+        elif "release" in git_ref.name:
+          release_refs.append(git_ref)
+
+      release_refs = sorted(release_refs, key=git_ref_to_semver)[-5:]
+
+      return [main_ref] + release_refs
+
+    smv_refs_filter_fn = git_ref_filter
+
+
 Overriding Configuration Variables
 ==================================
 
diff --git a/sphinx_multiversion/main.py b/sphinx_multiversion/main.py
index 9870b314..2fba85aa 100644
--- a/sphinx_multiversion/main.py
+++ b/sphinx_multiversion/main.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 import subprocess
 import sys
 import tempfile
+from typing import Optional, Callable
 
 from sphinx import config as sphinx_config
 from sphinx import project as sphinx_project
@@ -67,6 +68,9 @@ def load_sphinx_config_worker(q, confpath, confoverrides, add_defaults):
                 str,
             )
             current_config.add("smv_prefer_remote_refs", False, "html", bool)
+            current_config.add(
+                "smv_refs_filter_fn", None, "html", Optional[Callable]
+            )
         current_config.pre_init_values()
         current_config.init_values()
     except Exception as err:
@@ -76,14 +80,21 @@ def load_sphinx_config_worker(q, confpath, confoverrides, add_defaults):
     q.put(current_config)
 
 
-def load_sphinx_config(confpath, confoverrides, add_defaults=False):
+def load_sphinx_config(
+    confpath, confoverrides, add_defaults=False, in_process=False
+):
     q = multiprocessing.Queue()
-    proc = multiprocessing.Process(
-        target=load_sphinx_config_worker,
-        args=(q, confpath, confoverrides, add_defaults),
-    )
-    proc.start()
-    proc.join()
+    target = load_sphinx_config_worker
+    args = (q, confpath, confoverrides, add_defaults)
+    if in_process:
+        target(*args)
+    else:
+        proc = multiprocessing.Process(
+            target=target,
+            args=args,
+        )
+        proc.start()
+        proc.join()
     result = q.get_nowait()
     if isinstance(result, Exception):
         raise result
@@ -181,7 +192,10 @@ def main(argv=None):
 
     # Parse config
     config = load_sphinx_config(
-        confdir_absolute, confoverrides, add_defaults=True
+        confdir_absolute,
+        confoverrides,
+        add_defaults=True,
+        in_process=True,
     )
 
     # Get relative paths to root of git repository
@@ -218,6 +232,9 @@ def main(argv=None):
     else:
         gitrefs = sorted(gitrefs, key=lambda x: (x.is_remote, *x))
 
+    if config.smv_refs_filter_fn is not None:
+        gitrefs = config.smv_refs_filter_fn(gitrefs)
+
     logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
     with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp: