diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index ef4ac6c3..0c0b8558 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -18,7 +18,10 @@ tasks:
 Change Log
 ==========
 
-For a detailed change log, see ``docs/CHANGELOG.rst``.
+For a detailed change log, see |docs/CHANGELOG.rst|_.
+
+.. |docs/CHANGELOG.rst| replace:: ``docs/CHANGELOG.rst``
+.. _docs/CHANGELOG.rst: docs/CHANGELOG.rst
 
 Supported build systems
 =======================
@@ -102,9 +105,13 @@ Options:
   ``{'platform': ['f28', 'f29']}``.
 - ``require_overrides`` - the requires to override the modulemd with. The overrides must be to
   existing requires on the modulemd. The expected format is ``{'platform': ['f28', 'f29']}``.
+- ``scratch`` - a boolean indicating if a scratch module build should be performed.
+  Only allowed to be ``True`` if the MBS setting ``MODULE_ALLOW_SCRATCH`` is ``True``.
 - ``yaml`` - a string of the input file when submitting a YAML file directly in a
   ``multipart/form-data`` request. The MBS setting ``YAML_SUBMIT_ALLOWED`` must be set to ``True``
   for this to be allowed.
+- ``srpms`` - an optional list of Koji upload URLs of SRPMs to include in a module scratch build.
+  Only allowed if ``scratch`` is ``True``.
 - ``rebuild_strategy`` - a string of the desired rebuild strategy (affects what components get
   rebuilt). For the available options, please look at the "Rebuild Strategies" section below.
 
@@ -239,8 +246,8 @@ The response includes:
 - ``owner`` - the username of the owner or person who submitted the module build.
 - ``scmurl`` - the source control URL used to build the module.
 - ``state`` - the numerical state of the module build.
-- ``state_name`` - the named state of the module build. See the section called.
-  "Module Build States" for more information.
+- ``state_name`` - the named state of the module build. See the section called
+  `Module Build States`_ for more information.
 - ``state_reason`` - the reason why the module build is in this state. This is useful
   when the build fails.
 - ``stream`` - the module's stream.
@@ -925,7 +932,10 @@ the following rules (all of them are evaluated from top to bottom):
   TestConfiguration is used, otherwise...
 - if ``MODULE_BUILD_SERVICE_DEVELOPER_ENV`` is set to some reasonable
   value, DevConfiguration is forced and ``config.py`` is used directly from the
-  MBS's develop instance. For more information see ``docs/CONTRIBUTING.rst``.
+  MBS's develop instance. For more information see |docs/CONTRIBUTING.rst|_.
+
+.. |docs/CONTRIBUTING.rst| replace:: ``docs/CONTRIBUTING.rst``
+.. _docs/CONTRIBUTING.rst: docs/CONTRIBUTING.rst
 
 
 Setting Up Kerberos + LDAP Authentication
@@ -954,12 +964,15 @@ must be set in ``/etc/module-build-service/config.py``:
 Development
 ===========
 
-For help on setting up a development environment, see ``docs/CONTRIBUTING.rst``.
+For help on setting up a development environment, see |docs/CONTRIBUTING.rst|_.
 
 License
 =======
 
-MBS is licensed under MIT license. See LICENSE file for details.
+MBS is licensed under MIT license. See |LICENSE|_ file for details.
+
+.. |LICENSE| replace:: ``LICENSE``
+.. _LICENSE: LICENSE
 
 Parts of MBS are licensed under 3-clause BSD license from:
 https://github.com/projectatomic/atomic-reactor/blob/master/LICENSE
diff --git a/conf/config.py b/conf/config.py
index 5bd682de..88fbb44e 100644
--- a/conf/config.py
+++ b/conf/config.py
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ class BaseConfiguration(object):
 
     MODULES_DEFAULT_REPOSITORY = 'https://src.fedoraproject.org/modules/'
     MODULES_ALLOW_REPOSITORY = False
+    MODULES_ALLOW_SCRATCH = False
 
     ALLOWED_GROUPS = set([
         'packager',
diff --git a/module_build_service/views.py b/module_build_service/views.py
index a28d0afa..59031c01 100644
--- a/module_build_service/views.py
+++ b/module_build_service/views.py
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ from module_build_service.utils import (
     pagination_metadata, filter_module_builds, filter_component_builds,
     submit_module_build_from_scm, submit_module_build_from_yaml,
     get_scm_url_re, cors_header, validate_api_version, import_mmd,
-    get_mmd_from_scm)
+    get_mmd_from_scm, str_to_bool)
 from module_build_service.errors import (
     ValidationError, Forbidden, NotFound, ProgrammingError)
 from module_build_service.backports import jsonify
@@ -323,6 +323,23 @@ class BaseHandler(object):
                 log.error('Invalid JSON submitted')
                 raise ValidationError('Invalid JSON submitted')
 
+        # canonicalize and validate scratch option
+        if 'scratch' in self.data and str_to_bool(str(self.data['scratch'])):
+            self.data['scratch'] = True
+            if conf.modules_allow_scratch is not True:
+                raise Forbidden('Scratch builds are not enabled')
+        else:
+            self.data['scratch'] = False
+
+        # canonicalize and validate srpms list
+        if 'srpms' in self.data and self.data['srpms']:
+            if not self.data['scratch']:
+                raise Forbidden('srpms may only be specified for scratch builds')
+            if not isinstance(self.data['srpms'], list):
+                raise ValidationError('srpms must be specified as a list')
+        else:
+            self.data['srpms'] = []
+
     @property
     def optional_params(self):
         return {k: v for k, v in self.data.items() if k not in ["owner", "scmurl", "branch"]}