diff --git a/fixtures_git/github.py b/fixtures_git/github.py
index f1ddef3..8948bec 100644
--- a/fixtures_git/github.py
+++ b/fixtures_git/github.py
@@ -65,13 +65,15 @@ class GithubRepoFixture(GithubLoginMixin, fixtures.Fixture):
 
     def _setUp(self):
 
-        # handle template_name missing 'XXXXX' result in it containing
-        # a single element so set suffix to '' in that case.
-        template_parts = iter(self.name_template.split('XXXXXX'))
-        prefix = next(template_parts)
-        suffix = next(template_parts, '')
+        # allow user to provide an exact name to use
+        if self.repo_name is None:
+            # handle template_name missing 'XXXXX' result in it containing
+            # a single element so set suffix to '' in that case.
+            template_parts = iter(self.name_template.split('XXXXXX'))
+            prefix = next(template_parts)
+            suffix = next(template_parts, '')
 
-        self.repo_name = ''.join([prefix, str(uuid.uuid4())[:8], suffix])
+            self.repo_name = ''.join([prefix, str(uuid.uuid4())[:8], suffix])
 
         self.addCleanup(self._delete_repo)
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_github.py b/tests/unit/test_github.py
index b2f61e4..97f5004 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_github.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_github.py
@@ -75,3 +75,16 @@ class TestGithubRepoFixture(testtools.TestCase):
             gh_repo.repo_name.split('-')[-1],
             testtools.matchers.MatchesRegex('[a-f0-9]{8}')
         )
+
+    @mock.patch('fixtures_git.github.GithubRepoFixture.login',
+                mock.Mock(return_value=mock.Mock()))
+    def test_tempname_exact_string(self):
+
+        name = 'my-custom-tmp'
+        gh_repo = gh_fixture.GithubRepoFixture('owner', 'token')
+        gh_repo.repo_name = name
+        gh_repo.setUp()
+        self.assertThat(
+            gh_repo.repo_name,
+            testtools.matchers.Equals(name)
+        )