diff --git a/gitweb/gitweb.perl b/gitweb/gitweb.perl
index ee69ea683..014b33b50 100755
--- a/gitweb/gitweb.perl
+++ b/gitweb/gitweb.perl
@@ -2651,21 +2651,23 @@ sub git_get_project_url_list {
 }
 
 sub git_get_projects_list {
-	my ($filter) = @_;
+	my $filter = shift || '';
 	my @list;
 
-	$filter ||= '';
 	$filter =~ s/\.git$//;
 
-	my $check_forks = gitweb_check_feature('forks');
-
 	if (-d $projects_list) {
 		# search in directory
-		my $dir = $projects_list . ($filter ? "/$filter" : '');
+		my $dir = $projects_list;
 		# remove the trailing "/"
 		$dir =~ s!/+$!!;
-		my $pfxlen = length("$dir");
-		my $pfxdepth = ($dir =~ tr!/!!);
+		my $pfxlen = length("$projects_list");
+		my $pfxdepth = ($projects_list =~ tr!/!!);
+		# when filtering, search only given subdirectory
+		if ($filter) {
+			$dir .= "/$filter";
+			$dir =~ s!/+$!!;
+		}
 
 		File::Find::find({
 			follow_fast => 1, # follow symbolic links
@@ -2680,14 +2682,14 @@ sub git_get_projects_list {
 				# only directories can be git repositories
 				return unless (-d $_);
 				# don't traverse too deep (Find is super slow on os x)
+				# $project_maxdepth excludes depth of $projectroot
 				if (($File::Find::name =~ tr!/!!) - $pfxdepth > $project_maxdepth) {
 					$File::Find::prune = 1;
 					return;
 				}
 
-				my $subdir = substr($File::Find::name, $pfxlen + 1);
+				my $path = substr($File::Find::name, $pfxlen + 1);
 				# we check related file in $projectroot
-				my $path = ($filter ? "$filter/" : '') . $subdir;
 				if (check_export_ok("$projectroot/$path")) {
 					push @list, { path => $path };
 					$File::Find::prune = 1;
@@ -2700,7 +2702,6 @@ sub git_get_projects_list {
 		# 'git%2Fgit.git Linus+Torvalds'
 		# 'libs%2Fklibc%2Fklibc.git H.+Peter+Anvin'
 		# 'linux%2Fhotplug%2Fudev.git Greg+Kroah-Hartman'
-		my %paths;
 		open my $fd, '<', $projects_list or return;
 	PROJECT:
 		while (my $line = <$fd>) {
@@ -2711,32 +2712,9 @@ sub git_get_projects_list {
 			if (!defined $path) {
 				next;
 			}
-			if ($filter ne '') {
-				# looking for forks;
-				my $pfx = substr($path, 0, length($filter));
-				if ($pfx ne $filter) {
-					next PROJECT;
-				}
-				my $sfx = substr($path, length($filter));
-				if ($sfx !~ /^\/.*\.git$/) {
-					next PROJECT;
-				}
-			} elsif ($check_forks) {
-			PATH:
-				foreach my $filter (keys %paths) {
-					# looking for forks;
-					my $pfx = substr($path, 0, length($filter));
-					if ($pfx ne $filter) {
-						next PATH;
-					}
-					my $sfx = substr($path, length($filter));
-					if ($sfx !~ /^\/.*\.git$/) {
-						next PATH;
-					}
-					# is a fork, don't include it in
-					# the list
-					next PROJECT;
-				}
+			# if $filter is rpovided, check if $path begins with $filter
+			if ($filter && $path !~ m!^\Q$filter\E/!) {
+				next;
 			}
 			if (check_export_ok("$projectroot/$path")) {
 				my $pr = {
@@ -2744,8 +2722,6 @@ sub git_get_projects_list {
 					owner => to_utf8($owner),
 				};
 				push @list, $pr;
-				(my $forks_path = $path) =~ s/\.git$//;
-				$paths{$forks_path}++;
 			}
 		}
 		close $fd;
@@ -2753,6 +2729,98 @@ sub git_get_projects_list {
 	return @list;
 }
 
+# written with help of Tree::Trie module (Perl Artistic License, GPL compatibile)
+# as side effects it sets 'forks' field to list of forks for forked projects
+sub filter_forks_from_projects_list {
+	my $projects = shift;
+
+	my %trie; # prefix tree of directories (path components)
+	# generate trie out of those directories that might contain forks
+	foreach my $pr (@$projects) {
+		my $path = $pr->{'path'};
+		$path =~ s/\.git$//;      # forks of 'repo.git' are in 'repo/' directory
+		next if ($path =~ m!/$!); # skip non-bare repositories, e.g. 'repo/.git'
+		next unless ($path);      # skip '.git' repository: tests, git-instaweb
+		next unless (-d $path);   # containing directory exists
+		$pr->{'forks'} = [];      # there can be 0 or more forks of project
+
+		# add to trie
+		my @dirs = split('/', $path);
+		# walk the trie, until either runs out of components or out of trie
+		my $ref = \%trie;
+		while (scalar @dirs &&
+		       exists($ref->{$dirs[0]})) {
+			$ref = $ref->{shift @dirs};
+		}
+		# create rest of trie structure from rest of components
+		foreach my $dir (@dirs) {
+			$ref = $ref->{$dir} = {};
+		}
+		# create end marker, store $pr as a data
+		$ref->{''} = $pr if (!exists $ref->{''});
+	}
+
+	# filter out forks, by finding shortest prefix match for paths
+	my @filtered;
+ PROJECT:
+	foreach my $pr (@$projects) {
+		# trie lookup
+		my $ref = \%trie;
+	DIR:
+		foreach my $dir (split('/', $pr->{'path'})) {
+			if (exists $ref->{''}) {
+				# found [shortest] prefix, is a fork - skip it
+				push @{$ref->{''}{'forks'}}, $pr;
+				next PROJECT;
+			}
+			if (!exists $ref->{$dir}) {
+				# not in trie, cannot have prefix, not a fork
+				push @filtered, $pr;
+				next PROJECT;
+			}
+			# If the dir is there, we just walk one step down the trie.
+			$ref = $ref->{$dir};
+		}
+		# we ran out of trie
+		# (shouldn't happen: it's either no match, or end marker)
+		push @filtered, $pr;
+	}
+
+	return @filtered;
+}
+
+# note: fill_project_list_info must be run first,
+# for 'descr_long' and 'ctags' to be filled
+sub search_projects_list {
+	my ($projlist, %opts) = @_;
+	my $tagfilter  = $opts{'tagfilter'};
+	my $searchtext = $opts{'searchtext'};
+
+	return @$projlist
+		unless ($tagfilter || $searchtext);
+
+	my @projects;
+ PROJECT:
+	foreach my $pr (@$projlist) {
+
+		if ($tagfilter) {
+			next unless ref($pr->{'ctags'}) eq 'HASH';
+			next unless
+				grep { lc($_) eq lc($tagfilter) } keys %{$pr->{'ctags'}};
+		}
+
+		if ($searchtext) {
+			next unless
+				$pr->{'path'} =~ /$searchtext/ ||
+				$pr->{'descr_long'} =~ /$searchtext/;
+		}
+
+		push @projects, $pr;
+	}
+
+	return @projects;
+}
+
 our $gitweb_project_owner = undef;
 sub git_get_project_list_from_file {
 
@@ -4742,7 +4810,7 @@ sub git_patchset_body {
 # project in the list, removing invalid projects from returned list
 # NOTE: modifies $projlist, but does not remove entries from it
 sub fill_project_list_info {
-	my ($projlist, $check_forks) = @_;
+	my $projlist = shift;
 	my @projects;
 
 	my $show_ctags = gitweb_check_feature('ctags');
@@ -4762,23 +4830,36 @@ sub fill_project_list_info {
 		if (!defined $pr->{'owner'}) {
 			$pr->{'owner'} = git_get_project_owner("$pr->{'path'}") || "";
 		}
-		if ($check_forks) {
-			my $pname = $pr->{'path'};
-			if (($pname =~ s/\.git$//) &&
-			    ($pname !~ /\/$/) &&
-			    (-d "$projectroot/$pname")) {
-				$pr->{'forks'} = "-d $projectroot/$pname";
-			} else {
-				$pr->{'forks'} = 0;
-			}
+		if ($show_ctags) {
+			$pr->{'ctags'} = git_get_project_ctags($pr->{'path'});
 		}
-		$show_ctags and $pr->{'ctags'} = git_get_project_ctags($pr->{'path'});
 		push @projects, $pr;
 	}
 
 	return @projects;
 }
 
+sub sort_projects_list {
+	my ($projlist, $order) = @_;
+	my @projects;
+
+	my %order_info = (
+		project => { key => 'path', type => 'str' },
+		descr => { key => 'descr_long', type => 'str' },
+		owner => { key => 'owner', type => 'str' },
+		age => { key => 'age', type => 'num' }
+	);
+	my $oi = $order_info{$order};
+	return @$projlist unless defined $oi;
+	if ($oi->{'type'} eq 'str') {
+		@projects = sort {$a->{$oi->{'key'}} cmp $b->{$oi->{'key'}}} @$projlist;
+	} else {
+		@projects = sort {$a->{$oi->{'key'}} <=> $b->{$oi->{'key'}}} @$projlist;
+	}
+
+	return @projects;
+}
+
 # print 'sort by' <th> element, generating 'sort by $name' replay link
 # if that order is not selected
 sub print_sort_th {
@@ -4805,28 +4886,39 @@ sub format_sort_th {
 sub git_project_list_body {
 	# actually uses global variable $project
 	my ($projlist, $order, $from, $to, $extra, $no_header) = @_;
+	my @projects = @$projlist;
 
 	my $check_forks = gitweb_check_feature('forks');
-	my @projects = fill_project_list_info($projlist, $check_forks);
+	my $show_ctags  = gitweb_check_feature('ctags');
+	my $tagfilter = $show_ctags ? $cgi->param('by_tag') : undef;
+	$check_forks = undef
+		if ($tagfilter || $searchtext);
+
+	# filtering out forks before filling info allows to do less work
+	@projects = filter_forks_from_projects_list(\@projects)
+		if ($check_forks);
+	@projects = fill_project_list_info(\@projects);
+	# searching projects require filling to be run before it
+	@projects = search_projects_list(\@projects,
+	                                 'searchtext' => $searchtext,
+	                                 'tagfilter'  => $tagfilter)
+		if ($tagfilter || $searchtext);
 
 	$order ||= $default_projects_order;
 	$from = 0 unless defined $from;
 	$to = $#projects if (!defined $to || $#projects < $to);
 
-	my %order_info = (
-		project => { key => 'path', type => 'str' },
-		descr => { key => 'descr_long', type => 'str' },
-		owner => { key => 'owner', type => 'str' },
-		age => { key => 'age', type => 'num' }
-	);
-	my $oi = $order_info{$order};
-	if ($oi->{'type'} eq 'str') {
-		@projects = sort {$a->{$oi->{'key'}} cmp $b->{$oi->{'key'}}} @projects;
-	} else {
-		@projects = sort {$a->{$oi->{'key'}} <=> $b->{$oi->{'key'}}} @projects;
+	# short circuit
+	if ($from > $to) {
+		print "<center>\n".
+		      "<b>No such projects found</b><br />\n".
+		      "Click ".$cgi->a({-href=>href(project=>undef)},"here")." to view all projects<br />\n".
+		      "</center>\n<br />\n";
+		return;
 	}
 
-	my $show_ctags = gitweb_check_feature('ctags');
+	@projects = sort_projects_list(\@projects, $order);
+
 	if ($show_ctags) {
 		my %ctags;
 		foreach my $p (@projects) {
@@ -4852,32 +4944,26 @@ sub git_project_list_body {
 		      "</tr>\n";
 	}
 	my $alternate = 1;
-	my $tagfilter = $cgi->param('by_tag');
 	for (my $i = $from; $i <= $to; $i++) {
 		my $pr = $projects[$i];
 
-		next if $tagfilter and $show_ctags and not grep { lc $_ eq lc $tagfilter } keys %{$pr->{'ctags'}};
-		next if $searchtext and not $pr->{'path'} =~ /$searchtext/
-			and not $pr->{'descr_long'} =~ /$searchtext/;
-		# Weed out forks or non-matching entries of search
-		if ($check_forks) {
-			my $forkbase = $project; $forkbase ||= ''; $forkbase =~ s#\.git$#/#;
-			$forkbase="^$forkbase" if $forkbase;
-			next if not $searchtext and not $tagfilter and $show_ctags
-				and $pr->{'path'} =~ m#$forkbase.*/.*#; # regexp-safe
-		}
-
 		if ($alternate) {
 			print "<tr class=\"dark\">\n";
 		} else {
 			print "<tr class=\"light\">\n";
 		}
 		$alternate ^= 1;
+
 		if ($check_forks) {
 			print "<td>";
 			if ($pr->{'forks'}) {
-				print "<!-- $pr->{'forks'} -->\n";
-				print $cgi->a({-href => href(project=>$pr->{'path'}, action=>"forks")}, "+");
+				my $nforks = scalar @{$pr->{'forks'}};
+				if ($nforks > 0) {
+					print $cgi->a({-href => href(project=>$pr->{'path'}, action=>"forks"),
+					               -title => "$nforks forks"}, "+");
+				} else {
+					print $cgi->span({-title => "$nforks forks"}, "+");
+				}
 			}
 			print "</td>\n";
 		}
@@ -5357,7 +5443,10 @@ sub git_forks {
 }
 
 sub git_project_index {
-	my @projects = git_get_projects_list($project);
+	my @projects = git_get_projects_list();
+	if (!@projects) {
+		die_error(404, "No projects found");
+	}
 
 	print $cgi->header(
 		-type => 'text/plain',
@@ -5399,7 +5488,11 @@ sub git_summary {
 	my $check_forks = gitweb_check_feature('forks');
 
 	if ($check_forks) {
+		# find forks of a project
 		@forklist = git_get_projects_list($project);
+		# filter out forks of forks
+		@forklist = filter_forks_from_projects_list(\@forklist)
+			if (@forklist);
 	}
 
 	git_header_html();
@@ -7319,6 +7412,9 @@ sub git_atom {
 
 sub git_opml {
 	my @list = git_get_projects_list();
+	if (!@list) {
+		die_error(404, "No projects found");
+	}
 
 	print $cgi->header(
 		-type => 'text/xml',
diff --git a/t/t9500-gitweb-standalone-no-errors.sh b/t/t9500-gitweb-standalone-no-errors.sh
index afac5b56a..71ef0acb1 100755
--- a/t/t9500-gitweb-standalone-no-errors.sh
+++ b/t/t9500-gitweb-standalone-no-errors.sh
@@ -595,4 +595,53 @@ test_expect_success HIGHLIGHT \
 	 git commit -m "Add test.sh" &&
 	 gitweb_run "p=.git;a=blob;f=test.sh"'
 
+# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+# forks of projects
+
+cat >>gitweb_config.perl <<\EOF &&
+$feature{'forks'}{'default'} = [1];
+EOF
+
+test_expect_success \
+	'forks: prepare' \
+	'git init --bare foo.git &&
+	 git --git-dir=foo.git --work-tree=. add file &&
+	 git --git-dir=foo.git --work-tree=. commit -m "Initial commit" &&
+	 echo "foo" > foo.git/description &&
+	 mkdir -p foo &&
+	 (cd foo &&
+	  git clone --shared --bare ../foo.git foo-forked.git &&
+	  echo "fork of foo" > foo-forked.git/description)'
+
+test_expect_success \
+	'forks: projects list' \
+	'gitweb_run'
+
+test_expect_success \
+	'forks: forks action' \
+	'gitweb_run "p=foo.git;a=forks"'
+
+# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+# content tags (tag cloud)
+
+cat >>gitweb_config.perl <<-\EOF &&
+# we don't test _setting_ content tags, so any true value is good
+$feature{'ctags'}{'default'} = ['ctags_script.cgi'];
+EOF
+
+test_expect_success \
+	'ctags: tag cloud in projects list' \
+	'mkdir .git/ctags &&
+	 echo "2" > .git/ctags/foo &&
+	 echo "1" > .git/ctags/bar &&
+	gitweb_run'
+
+test_expect_success \
+	'ctags: search projects by existing tag' \
+	'gitweb_run "by_tag=foo"'
+
+test_expect_success \
+	'ctags: search projects by non existent tag' \
+	'gitweb_run "by_tag=non-existent"'
+
 test_done
diff --git a/t/t9502-gitweb-standalone-parse-output.sh b/t/t9502-gitweb-standalone-parse-output.sh
index dd8389000..731e64c3a 100755
--- a/t/t9502-gitweb-standalone-parse-output.sh
+++ b/t/t9502-gitweb-standalone-parse-output.sh
@@ -112,4 +112,78 @@ test_expect_success 'snapshot: hierarchical branch name (xx/test)' '
 '
 test_debug 'cat gitweb.headers'
 
+# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+# forks of projects
+
+test_expect_success 'forks: setup' '
+	git init --bare foo.git &&
+	echo file > file &&
+	git --git-dir=foo.git --work-tree=. add file &&
+	git --git-dir=foo.git --work-tree=. commit -m "Initial commit" &&
+	echo "foo" > foo.git/description &&
+	git clone --bare foo.git foo.bar.git &&
+	echo "foo.bar" > foo.bar.git/description &&
+	git clone --bare foo.git foo_baz.git &&
+	echo "foo_baz" > foo_baz.git/description &&
+	rm -fr   foo &&
+	mkdir -p foo &&
+	(
+		cd foo &&
+		git clone --shared --bare ../foo.git foo-forked.git &&
+		echo "fork of foo" > foo-forked.git/description
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'forks: not skipped unless "forks" feature enabled' '
+	gitweb_run "a=project_list" &&
+	grep -q ">\\.git<"               gitweb.body &&
+	grep -q ">foo\\.git<"            gitweb.body &&
+	grep -q ">foo_baz\\.git<"        gitweb.body &&
+	grep -q ">foo\\.bar\\.git<"      gitweb.body &&
+	grep -q ">foo_baz\\.git<"        gitweb.body &&
+	grep -q ">foo/foo-forked\\.git<" gitweb.body &&
+	grep -q ">fork of .*<"           gitweb.body
+'
+
+cat >>gitweb_config.perl <<\EOF &&
+$feature{'forks'}{'default'} = [1];
+EOF
+
+test_expect_success 'forks: forks skipped if "forks" feature enabled' '
+	gitweb_run "a=project_list" &&
+	grep -q ">\\.git<"               gitweb.body &&
+	grep -q ">foo\\.git<"            gitweb.body &&
+	grep -q ">foo_baz\\.git<"        gitweb.body &&
+	grep -q ">foo\\.bar\\.git<"      gitweb.body &&
+	grep -q ">foo_baz\\.git<"        gitweb.body &&
+	grep -v ">foo/foo-forked\\.git<" gitweb.body &&
+	grep -v ">fork of .*<"           gitweb.body
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'forks: "forks" action for forked repository' '
+	gitweb_run "p=foo.git;a=forks" &&
+	grep -q ">foo/foo-forked\\.git<" gitweb.body &&
+	grep -q ">fork of foo<"          gitweb.body
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'forks: can access forked repository' '
+	gitweb_run "p=foo/foo-forked.git;a=summary" &&
+	grep -q "200 OK"        gitweb.headers &&
+	grep -q ">fork of foo<" gitweb.body
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'forks: project_index lists all projects (incl. forks)' '
+	cat >expected <<-\EOF
+	.git
+	foo.bar.git
+	foo.git
+	foo/foo-forked.git
+	foo_baz.git
+	EOF
+	gitweb_run "a=project_index" &&
+	sed -e "s/ .*//" <gitweb.body | sort >actual &&
+	test_cmp expected actual
+'
+
+
 test_done