diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b79c6f9..7f49361 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ This is a custom pre-processor designed to remove unused flexipatch patches and
   -h, --help                     display this help section
   -k, --keep                     keep temporary files and do not replace the original ones
   -e, --echo                     echo commands that will be run rather than running them
+  -b, --branch                   perform a git checkout before processing to keep removal from being permenant
       --debug                    prints additional debug information to stderr
 
 Warning! This script alters and removes files within the source directory.
diff --git a/flexipatch-finalizer.sh b/flexipatch-finalizer.sh
index 1805671..8ea3ef8 100755
--- a/flexipatch-finalizer.sh
+++ b/flexipatch-finalizer.sh
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ DIRECTORY=.
 OUTPUT_DIRECTORY=
 KEEP_GITFILES=0
 DEBUG=0
+GIT_BRANCH=0
 
 if [[ $# = 0 ]]; then
     set -- '-h'
@@ -44,6 +45,11 @@ while (( $# )); do
 			shift
 			KEEP_GITFILES=1
 			;;
+		-b|--branch)
+		   	shift
+			GIT_BRANCH=1
+			KEEP_GITFILES=1
+			;;
 		-h|--help)
 			shift
 			fmt="  %-31s%s\n"
@@ -60,6 +66,7 @@ while (( $# )); do
 			printf "$fmt" "-k, --keep" "keep temporary files and do not replace the original ones"
 			printf "$fmt" "-g, --git" "keep .git files"
 			printf "$fmt" "-e, --echo" "echo commands that will be run rather than running them"
+			printf "$fmt" "-b, --branch" "perform a git checkout before processing to keep removal from being permenant"
 			printf "$fmt" "    --debug" "prints additional debug information to stderr"
 			printf "\nWarning! This script alters and removes files within the source directory."
 			printf "\nWarning! This process is irreversible! Use with care. Do make a backup before running this."
@@ -149,6 +156,22 @@ function is_flexipatch(patch) {
 	return patch ~ /_(PATCH|LAYOUT)$/
 }
 
+function change_branch() {
+	print "switching to branch finalized"
+	local existed_in_local=$(git branch --list finalized)
+	
+	if [[ -z ${existed_in_local} ]]; then
+        	git checkout finalized
+    	else
+        	git checkout -b finalized
+    	fi
+	
+}
+
+if (GIT_BRANCH) {
+  change_branch()
+}
+
 BEGIN {
 	# Read patches.h and store patch settings in the patches associative array
 	if (DEBUG) {