2 files changed, 9 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/gbp/git/modifier.py b/gbp/git/modifier.py
index ca4b3167..28d8bde2 100644
--- a/gbp/git/modifier.py
+++ b/gbp/git/modifier.py
@@ -149,6 +149,12 @@ class GitModifier(object):
         """
         return self._get_env('committer')
 
+    def get(self, key, default=None):
+        if key in self.keys():
+            return self.__getitem__(key)
+        else:
+            return default
+
     def __getitem__(self, key):
         if key == 'date':
             return self.date
diff --git a/tests/doctests/test_GitModifier.py b/tests/doctests/test_GitModifier.py
index ba940ac5..4ac3c7fc 100644
--- a/tests/doctests/test_GitModifier.py
+++ b/tests/doctests/test_GitModifier.py
@@ -81,4 +81,7 @@ def test_dict():
     ['date', 'email', 'name']
     >>> sorted(modifier.items())
     [('date', '1 +0000'), ('email', 'bar'), ('name', 'foo')]
+    >>> modifier.get('name')
+    'foo'
+    >>> modifier.get('doesnotexist')
     """