diff --git a/doc/builders.rst b/doc/builders.rst
index 71600137d..6600807d3 100644
--- a/doc/builders.rst
+++ b/doc/builders.rst
@@ -81,7 +81,8 @@ The builder's "name" must be given to the **-b** command-line option of
    This builder produces the same output as the standalone HTML builder, but
    also generates an *epub* file for ebook readers.  See :ref:`epub-faq` for
    details about it.  For definition of the epub format, have a look at
-   `<http://www.idpf.org/specs.htm>`_ or `<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPUB>`_.
+   `<http://idpf.org/epub>`_ or `<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPUB>`_.
+   The builder creates *EPUB 2* files.
 
    Some ebook readers do not show the link targets of references.  Therefore
    this builder adds the targets after the link when necessary.  The display
diff --git a/doc/config.rst b/doc/config.rst
index a8d5c07f2..6178d459b 100644
--- a/doc/config.rst
+++ b/doc/config.rst
@@ -854,6 +854,20 @@ the `Dublin Core metadata <http://dublincore.org/>`_.
 
    .. versionadded:: 1.1
 
+.. confval:: epub_guide
+
+   Meta data for the guide element of :file:`content.opf`. This is a
+   sequence of tuples containing the *type*, the *uri* and the *title* of
+   the optional guide information. See the OPF documentation
+   at `<http://idpf.org/epub>`_ for details. If possible, default entries
+   for the *cover* and *toc* types are automatically inserted. However,
+   the types can be explicitely overwritten if the default entries are not
+   appropriate. Example::
+
+      epub_guide = (('cover', 'cover.html', u'Cover Page'),)
+
+   The default value is ``()``.
+
 .. confval:: epub_pre_files
 
    Additional files that should be inserted before the text generated by
diff --git a/sphinx/builders/epub.py b/sphinx/builders/epub.py
index ad9906155..b4c3b2776 100644
--- a/sphinx/builders/epub.py
+++ b/sphinx/builders/epub.py
@@ -104,6 +104,9 @@ _content_template = u'''\
   <spine toc="ncx">
 %(spine)s
   </spine>
+  <guide>
+%(guide)s
+  </guide>
 </package>
 '''
 
@@ -121,12 +124,21 @@ _file_template = u'''\
 _spine_template = u'''\
     <itemref idref="%(idref)s" />'''
 
+_guide_template = u'''\
+    <reference type="%(type)s" title="%(title)s" href="%(uri)s" />'''
+
 _toctree_template = u'toctree-l%d'
 
 _link_target_template = u' [%(uri)s]'
 
 _css_link_target_class = u'link-target'
 
+# XXX These strings should be localized according to epub_language
+_guide_titles = {
+    'toc': u'Table of Contents',
+    'cover': u'Cover Page'
+}
+
 _media_types = {
     '.html': 'application/xhtml+xml',
     '.css': 'text/css',
@@ -408,7 +420,7 @@ class EpubBuilder(StandaloneHTMLBuilder):
         finally:
             f.close()
 
-    def content_metadata(self, files, spine):
+    def content_metadata(self, files, spine, guide):
         """Create a dictionary with all metadata for the content.opf
         file properly escaped.
         """
@@ -424,6 +436,7 @@ class EpubBuilder(StandaloneHTMLBuilder):
         metadata['date'] = self.esc(time.strftime('%Y-%m-%d'))
         metadata['files'] = files
         metadata['spine'] = spine
+        metadata['guide'] = guide
         return metadata
 
     def build_content(self, outdir, outname):
@@ -479,14 +492,15 @@ class EpubBuilder(StandaloneHTMLBuilder):
 
         # add the optional cover
         content_tmpl = _content_template
+        html_tmpl = None
         if self.config.epub_cover:
-            image, tmpl = self.config.epub_cover
+            image, html_tmpl = self.config.epub_cover
             mpos = content_tmpl.rfind('</metadata>')
             cpos = content_tmpl.rfind('\n', 0 , mpos) + 1
             content_tmpl = content_tmpl[:cpos] + \
                 _cover_template % {'cover': self.esc(self.make_id(image))} + \
                 content_tmpl[cpos:]
-            if tmpl:
+            if html_tmpl:
                 spine.insert(0, _spine_template % {
                     'idref': self.esc(self.make_id(_coverpage_name))})
                 if _coverpage_name not in self.files:
@@ -499,16 +513,46 @@ class EpubBuilder(StandaloneHTMLBuilder):
                     })
                 ctx = {'image': self.esc(image), 'title': self.config.project}
                 self.handle_page(
-                        os.path.splitext(_coverpage_name)[0], ctx, tmpl)
+                        os.path.splitext(_coverpage_name)[0], ctx, html_tmpl)
 
+        guide = []
+        auto_add_cover = True
+        auto_add_toc = True
+        if self.config.epub_guide:
+            for type, uri, title in self.config.epub_guide:
+                file = uri.split('#')[0]
+                if file not in self.files:
+                    self.files.append(file)
+                if type == 'cover':
+                    auto_add_cover = False
+                if type == 'toc':
+                    auto_add_toc = False
+                guide.append(_guide_template % {
+                        'type': self.esc(type),
+                        'title': self.esc(title),
+                        'uri': self.esc(uri)
+                        })
+        if auto_add_cover and html_tmpl:
+            guide.append(_guide_template % {
+                    'type': 'cover',
+                    'title': _guide_titles['cover'],
+                    'uri': self.esc(_coverpage_name)
+                    })
+        if auto_add_toc and self.refnodes:
+            guide.append(_guide_template % {
+                    'type': 'toc',
+                    'title': _guide_titles['toc'],
+                    'uri': self.esc(self.refnodes[0]['refuri'])
+                    })
         projectfiles = '\n'.join(projectfiles)
         spine = '\n'.join(spine)
+        guide = '\n'.join(guide)
 
         # write the project file
         f = codecs.open(path.join(outdir, outname), 'w', 'utf-8')
         try:
             f.write(content_tmpl % \
-                self.content_metadata(projectfiles, spine))
+                self.content_metadata(projectfiles, spine, guide))
         finally:
             f.close()
 
@@ -592,6 +636,8 @@ class EpubBuilder(StandaloneHTMLBuilder):
         doctree = self.env.get_and_resolve_doctree(self.config.master_doc,
             self, prune_toctrees=False, includehidden=False)
         refnodes = self.get_refnodes(doctree, [])
+        if not refnodes:
+            refnodes = self.refnodes
         navpoints = self.build_navpoints(refnodes)
         level = max(item['level'] for item in self.refnodes)
         level = min(level, self.config.epub_tocdepth)
diff --git a/sphinx/config.py b/sphinx/config.py
index 8da81361a..2012634e1 100644
--- a/sphinx/config.py
+++ b/sphinx/config.py
@@ -133,6 +133,7 @@ class Config(object):
         epub_scheme = ('unknown', 'html'),
         epub_uid = ('unknown', 'env'),
         epub_cover = ((), 'env'),
+        epub_guide = ((), 'env'),
         epub_pre_files = ([], 'env'),
         epub_post_files = ([], 'env'),
         epub_exclude_files = ([], 'env'),
diff --git a/sphinx/quickstart.py b/sphinx/quickstart.py
index 172382ad5..c8dd2579c 100644
--- a/sphinx/quickstart.py
+++ b/sphinx/quickstart.py
@@ -309,6 +309,9 @@ epub_copyright = u'%(copyright_str)s'
 # A tuple containing the cover image and cover page html template filenames.
 #epub_cover = ()
 
+# A sequence of (type, uri, title) tuples for the guide element of content.opf.
+#epub_guide = ()
+
 # HTML files that should be inserted before the pages created by sphinx.
 # The format is a list of tuples containing the path and title.
 #epub_pre_files = []
diff --git a/sphinx/themes/epub/epub-cover.html b/sphinx/themes/epub/epub-cover.html
index f80889250..b3202a33f 100644
--- a/sphinx/themes/epub/epub-cover.html
+++ b/sphinx/themes/epub/epub-cover.html
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
     :license: BSD, see LICENSE for details.
 #}
 {% extends "layout.html" %}
+{%- block header %}{% endblock %}
 {%- block rootrellink %}{% endblock %}
 {%- block relbaritems %}{% endblock %}
 {%- block sidebarlogo %}{% endblock %}