diff --git a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/tests/tests.py b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/tests/tests.py
index d0b8261908..2597ac64fd 100644
--- a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/tests/tests.py
+++ b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/tests/tests.py
@@ -350,6 +350,21 @@ class ContentStoreTest(TestCase):
     def test_edit_unit_full(self):
         self.check_edit_unit('full')
 
+    def test_about_overrides(self):
+        '''
+        This test case verifies that a course can use specialized override for about data, e.g. /about/Fall_2012/effort.html 
+        while there is a base definition in /about/effort.html
+        '''
+        import_from_xml(modulestore(), 'common/test/data/', ['full'])
+        ms = modulestore('direct')
+        effort = ms.get_item(Location(['i4x','edX','full','about','effort', None]))
+        self.assertEqual(effort.definition['data'],'6 hours')
+
+        # this one should be in a non-override folder
+        effort = ms.get_item(Location(['i4x','edX','full','about','end_date', None]))
+        self.assertEqual(effort.definition['data'],'TBD')
+
+
     def test_clone_course(self):
         import_from_xml(modulestore(), 'common/test/data/', ['full'])
 
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/xml.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/xml.py
index 77cbc00f6e..b7f0c726e4 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/xml.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/xml.py
@@ -444,33 +444,39 @@ class XMLModuleStore(ModuleStoreBase):
             log.debug('========> Done with course import from {0}'.format(course_dir))
             return course_descriptor
 
-    def load_extra_content(self, system, course_descriptor, category, base_dir, course_dir, url_name):
-        if url_name:
-            path =  base_dir / url_name
 
-        if not os.path.exists(path):
-            path = base_dir
+    def load_extra_content(self, system, course_descriptor, category, base_dir, course_dir, url_name):
+
+        self._load_extra_content(system, course_descriptor, category, base_dir, course_dir)
+
+         # then look in a override folder based on the course run
+        if os.path.isdir(base_dir / url_name):
+            self._load_extra_content(system, course_descriptor, category, base_dir / url_name, course_dir)       
+
+
+    def _load_extra_content(self, system, course_descriptor, category, path, course_dir):
 
         for filepath in glob.glob(path/ '*'):
-            with open(filepath) as f:
-                try:
-                    html = f.read().decode('utf-8')
-                    # tabs are referenced in policy.json through a 'slug' which is just the filename without the .html suffix
-                    slug = os.path.splitext(os.path.basename(filepath))[0]
-                    loc = Location('i4x', course_descriptor.location.org, course_descriptor.location.course, category, slug)
-                    module = HtmlDescriptor(system, definition={'data' : html}, **{'location' : loc})
-                    # VS[compat]:
-                    # Hack because we need to pull in the 'display_name' for static tabs (because we need to edit them)
-                    # from the course policy
-                    if category == "static_tab":
-                        for tab in course_descriptor.tabs or []:
-                            if tab.get('url_slug') == slug:
-                                module.metadata['display_name'] = tab['name']            
-                    module.metadata['data_dir'] = course_dir
-                    self.modules[course_descriptor.id][module.location] = module   
-                except Exception, e:
-                    logging.exception("Failed to load {0}. Skipping... Exception: {1}".format(filepath, str(e)))   
-                    system.error_tracker("ERROR: " + str(e))
+            if not os.path.isdir(filepath):
+                with open(filepath) as f:
+                    try:
+                        html = f.read().decode('utf-8')
+                        # tabs are referenced in policy.json through a 'slug' which is just the filename without the .html suffix
+                        slug = os.path.splitext(os.path.basename(filepath))[0]
+                        loc = Location('i4x', course_descriptor.location.org, course_descriptor.location.course, category, slug)
+                        module = HtmlDescriptor(system, definition={'data' : html}, **{'location' : loc})
+                        # VS[compat]:
+                        # Hack because we need to pull in the 'display_name' for static tabs (because we need to edit them)
+                        # from the course policy
+                        if category == "static_tab":
+                            for tab in course_descriptor.tabs or []:
+                                if tab.get('url_slug') == slug:
+                                    module.metadata['display_name'] = tab['name']            
+                        module.metadata['data_dir'] = course_dir
+                        self.modules[course_descriptor.id][module.location] = module   
+                    except Exception, e:
+                        logging.exception("Failed to load {0}. Skipping... Exception: {1}".format(filepath, str(e)))   
+                        system.error_tracker("ERROR: " + str(e))
 
     def get_instance(self, course_id, location, depth=0):
         """
diff --git a/common/test/data/full/about/6.002_Spring_2012/effort.html b/common/test/data/full/about/6.002_Spring_2012/effort.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3ef8bf8ce1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/test/data/full/about/6.002_Spring_2012/effort.html
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+6 hours
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/common/test/data/full/about/effort.html b/common/test/data/full/about/effort.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c983fdcb5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/test/data/full/about/effort.html
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+12 hours
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/common/test/data/full/about/end_date.html b/common/test/data/full/about/end_date.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2fd9f95700
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/test/data/full/about/end_date.html
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+TBD
\ No newline at end of file