diff --git a/Puc/v4p8/Vcs/GitLabApi.php b/Puc/v4p8/Vcs/GitLabApi.php
index 87ef8f9..41f29fc 100644
--- a/Puc/v4p8/Vcs/GitLabApi.php
+++ b/Puc/v4p8/Vcs/GitLabApi.php
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ if ( !class_exists('Puc_v4p8_Vcs_GitLabApi', false) ):
 		 */
 		protected $accessToken;
 
-		public function __construct($repositoryUrl, $accessToken = null) {
+		public function __construct($repositoryUrl, $accessToken = null, $subgroup = null) {
 			//Parse the repository host to support custom hosts.
 			$port = parse_url($repositoryUrl, PHP_URL_PORT);
 			if ( !empty($port) ){
@@ -55,6 +55,12 @@ if ( !class_exists('Puc_v4p8_Vcs_GitLabApi', false) ):
 				$this->userName = implode('/', $parts);
 				$this->repositoryName = $lastPart;
 			} else {
+				// there is a subgroup in the url: gitlab.domain.com/group/subgroup/repository
+				// maybe there nested subgroups: gitlab.domain.com/group/subgroup/subgroup2/repository
+				if ($subgroup !== null) {
+					$path = str_replace(trailingslashit($subgroup), '', $path);
+				}
+
 				//This is not a traditional url, it could be gitlab is in a deeper subdirectory.
 				//Get the path segments.
 				$segments = explode('/', untrailingslashit(ltrim($path, '/')));
@@ -69,8 +75,15 @@ if ( !class_exists('Puc_v4p8_Vcs_GitLabApi', false) ):
 				$this->userName = $usernameRepo[0];
 				$this->repositoryName = $usernameRepo[1];
 
-				//Append the remaining segments to the host.
-				$this->repositoryHost = trailingslashit($this->repositoryHost) . implode('/', $segments);
+				//Append the remaining segments to the host if there are segments left.
+				if (count($segments) > 0) {
+					$this->repositoryHost = trailingslashit($this->repositoryHost) . implode('/', $segments);
+				}
+
+				// add subgroups to username
+				if ($subgroup !== null) {
+					$this->userName = $usernameRepo[0] . '/' . untrailingslashit($subgroup);
+				}
 			}
 
 			parent::__construct($repositoryUrl, $accessToken);
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7b12df7..c2cfcac 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -251,7 +251,16 @@ BitBucket doesn't have an equivalent to GitHub's releases, so the process is sli
     );
    //Optional: Add setAuthentication(...) and setBranch(...) as shown above.  
    ```
-	
+   If you're using a self-hosted GitLab instance and [subgroups or nested groups](https://docs.gitlab.com/ce/user/group/subgroups/index.html) you have to tell the update checker, which folders are subgroups:
+   ```php
+       $myUpdateChecker = new Puc_v4p8_Vcs_PluginUpdateChecker(
+           new Puc_v4p8_Vcs_GitLabApi('https://myserver.com/group-name/subgroup-level1/subgroup-level2/subgroup-level3/repo-name/', null, 'subgroup-level1/subgroup-level2/subgroup-level3'),
+           __FILE__,
+           'unique-plugin-or-theme-slug'
+       );
+    
+   ```
+   
 3. Plugins only: Add a `readme.txt` file formatted according to the [WordPress.org plugin readme standard](https://wordpress.org/plugins/about/readme.txt) to your repository. The contents of this file will be shown when the user clicks the "View version 1.2.3 details" link.
 
 #### How to Release an Update