diff --git a/doc/guix.texi b/doc/guix.texi
index 0102fd0fad..0b30ed0a72 100644
--- a/doc/guix.texi
+++ b/doc/guix.texi
@@ -8283,7 +8283,7 @@ origin Reference
 The URL of the Subversion repository to clone.
 
 @item @code{revision}
-This string denotes revision to fetch specified as a number.
+This string or number denotes revision to fetch.
 
 @item @code{recursive?} (default: @code{#f})
 This Boolean indicates whether to recursively fetch Subversion
diff --git a/guix/build/svn.scm b/guix/build/svn.scm
index 875d3c50ca..58b74fd37a 100644
--- a/guix/build/svn.scm
+++ b/guix/build/svn.scm
@@ -46,7 +46,12 @@ (define* (svn-fetch url revision directory
            ;; Trust the server certificate.  This is OK as we
            ;; verify the checksum later.  This can be removed when
            ;; ca-certificates package is added.
-           "--trust-server-cert" "-r" (number->string revision)
+           "--trust-server-cert"
+
+           ;; Revision.  It can be a number or a string.
+           "-r" (if (number? revision)
+                    (number->string revision)
+                    revision)           ;assume string
 
            ;; Disable keyword substitutions (keywords are CVS-like strings
            ;; like "$Date$", "$Id$", and so on) for two reasons: (1) some
diff --git a/guix/svn-download.scm b/guix/svn-download.scm
index 62649e4374..e21091defc 100644
--- a/guix/svn-download.scm
+++ b/guix/svn-download.scm
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ (define-record-type* <svn-reference>
   svn-reference make-svn-reference
   svn-reference?
   (url        svn-reference-url)                    ; string
-  (revision   svn-reference-revision)               ; number
+  (revision   svn-reference-revision)               ; number|string
   (recursive? svn-reference-recursive? (default #f))
   (user-name  svn-reference-user-name (default #f))
   (password   svn-reference-password (default #f)))
@@ -113,7 +113,8 @@ (define (svn-fetch-builder svn hash-algo)
 
           (or (and (download-method-enabled? 'upstream)
                    (svn-fetch (getenv "svn url")
-                              (string->number (getenv "svn revision"))
+                              (let ((r (getenv "svn revision")))
+                                (or (string->number r) r))
                               #$output
                               #:svn-command #+(file-append svn "/bin/svn")
                               #:recursive? (match (getenv "svn recursive?")
@@ -152,7 +153,10 @@ (define* (svn-fetch ref hash-algo hash
                       #:env-vars
                       `(("svn url" . ,(svn-reference-url ref))
                         ("svn revision"
-                         . ,(number->string (svn-reference-revision ref)))
+                         . ,(let ((revision (svn-reference-revision ref)))
+                              (if (number? revision)
+                                  (number->string revision)
+                                  revision)))
                         ,@(if (svn-reference-recursive? ref)
                               `(("svn recursive?" . "yes"))
                               '())
@@ -187,7 +191,7 @@ (define-record-type* <svn-multi-reference>
   svn-multi-reference make-svn-multi-reference
   svn-multi-reference?
   (url        svn-multi-reference-url)                 ; string
-  (revision   svn-multi-reference-revision)            ; number
+  (revision   svn-multi-reference-revision)            ; number|string
   (locations  svn-multi-reference-locations)           ; list of strings
   (recursive? svn-multi-reference-recursive? (default #f))
   (user-name  svn-multi-reference-user-name (default #f))
@@ -240,7 +244,8 @@ (define (svn-multi-fetch-builder svn hash-algo)
                    (mkdir-p (string-append #$output "/" (dirname location))))
                  (and (download-method-enabled? 'upstream)
                       (svn-fetch (string-append (getenv "svn url") "/" location)
-                                 (string->number (getenv "svn revision"))
+                                 (let ((r (getenv "svn revision")))
+                                   (or (string->number r) r))
                                  (if (string-suffix? "/" location)
                                      (string-append #$output "/" location)
                                      (string-append #$output "/" (dirname location)))
@@ -292,7 +297,10 @@ (define* (svn-multi-fetch ref hash-algo hash
                         ("svn locations"
                          . ,(object->string (svn-multi-reference-locations ref)))
                         ("svn revision"
-                         . ,(number->string (svn-multi-reference-revision ref)))
+                         . ,(let ((revision (svn-multi-reference-revision ref)))
+                              (if (number? revision)
+                                  (number->string revision)
+                                  revision)))
                         ,@(if (svn-multi-reference-recursive? ref)
                               `(("svn recursive?" . "yes"))
                               '())
