diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9711c891..c3c3bd4f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,16 @@
 
 # Change Log
 
+## v1.13.0 (2022-12-10)
+
+[Full Changelog](https://github.com/ruby-git/ruby-git/compare/v1.12.0...v1.13.0)
+
+* 8349224 Update list of maintainers (#598)
+* 4fe8738 In ls-files do not unescape file paths with eval (#602)
+* 74b8e11 Add start_point option for checkout command (#597)
+* ff6dcf4 Do not assume the default branch is 'master' in tests
+* 8279298 Fix exception when Git is autoloaded (#594)
+
 ## v1.12.0
 
 See https://github.com/ruby-git/ruby-git/releases/tag/v1.12.0
@@ -151,4 +161,3 @@ See https://github.com/ruby-git/ruby-git/releases/tag/v1.4.0
 ## 1.0.1
 
 * Initial version
-
diff --git a/MAINTAINERS.md b/MAINTAINERS.md
index ef13361f..7290f137 100644
--- a/MAINTAINERS.md
+++ b/MAINTAINERS.md
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
 
 When making changes in this repository, one of the maintainers below must review and approve your pull request.
 
-### Maintainers
-
+* [James Couball](https://github.com/jcouball)
+* [Frank Throckmorton](https://github.com/frankthrock)
 * [Per Lundberg](https://github.com/perlun)
-* [James Couball](https://github.com/jcouball)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index db38fbf6..df3b3e4b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -265,6 +265,7 @@ g.branch('existing_branch').checkout
 g.branch('master').contains?('existing_branch')
 
 g.checkout('new_branch')
+g.checkout('new_branch', new_branch: true, start_point: 'master')
 g.checkout(g.branch('new_branch'))
 
 g.branch(name).merge(branch2)
diff --git a/lib/git.rb b/lib/git.rb
index 1da03ce5..fe38972f 100644
--- a/lib/git.rb
+++ b/lib/git.rb
@@ -27,11 +27,6 @@
 require 'git/worktree'
 require 'git/worktrees'
 
-lib = Git::Lib.new(nil, nil)
-unless lib.meets_required_version?
-  $stderr.puts "[WARNING] The git gem requires git #{lib.required_command_version.join('.')} or later, but only found #{lib.current_command_version.join('.')}. You should probably upgrade."
-end
-
 # The Git module provides the basic functions to open a git
 # reference to work with. You can open a working directory,
 # open a bare repository, initialize a new repo or clone an
diff --git a/lib/git/lib.rb b/lib/git/lib.rb
index fce8b274..293f2878 100644
--- a/lib/git/lib.rb
+++ b/lib/git/lib.rb
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@ def initialize(base = nil, logger = nil)
         @git_work_dir = base[:working_directory]
       end
       @logger = logger
+
+      Git::Lib.warn_if_old_command(self)
     end
 
     # creates or reinitializes the repository
@@ -486,7 +488,9 @@ def ls_files(location=nil)
       command_lines('ls-files', '--stage', location).each do |line|
         (info, file) = line.split("\t")
         (mode, sha, stage) = info.split
-        file = eval(file) if file =~ /^\".*\"$/ # This takes care of quoted strings returned from git
+        if file.start_with?('"') && file.end_with?('"')
+          file = Git::EscapedPath.new(file[1..-2]).unescape
+        end
         hsh[file] = {:path => file, :mode_index => mode, :sha_index => sha, :stage => stage}
       end
       hsh
@@ -762,11 +766,21 @@ def branch_delete(branch)
       command('branch', '-D', branch)
     end
 
+    # Runs checkout command to checkout or create branch
+    #
+    # accepts options:
+    #  :new_branch
+    #  :force
+    #  :start_point
+    #
+    # @param [String] branch
+    # @param [Hash] opts
     def checkout(branch, opts = {})
       arr_opts = []
       arr_opts << '-b' if opts[:new_branch] || opts[:b]
       arr_opts << '--force' if opts[:force] || opts[:f]
       arr_opts << branch
+      arr_opts << opts[:start_point] if opts[:start_point] && arr_opts.include?('-b')
 
       command('checkout', arr_opts)
     end
@@ -1027,6 +1041,13 @@ def meets_required_version?
       (self.current_command_version <=>  self.required_command_version) >= 0
     end
 
+    def self.warn_if_old_command(lib)
+      return true if @version_checked
+      unless lib.meets_required_version?
+        $stderr.puts "[WARNING] The git gem requires git #{lib.required_command_version.join('.')} or later, but only found #{lib.current_command_version.join('.')}. You should probably upgrade."
+      end
+      @version_checked = true
+    end
 
     private
 
diff --git a/lib/git/version.rb b/lib/git/version.rb
index 52159024..bd53cc7c 100644
--- a/lib/git/version.rb
+++ b/lib/git/version.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 module Git
   # The current gem version
   # @return [String] the current gem version.
-  VERSION='1.12.0'
+  VERSION='1.13.0'
 end
diff --git a/tests/all_tests.rb b/tests/all_tests.rb
index 60bac481..ff3ade79 100644
--- a/tests/all_tests.rb
+++ b/tests/all_tests.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 Dir.chdir(File.dirname(__FILE__)) do
-  Dir.glob('**/test_*.rb') do |test_case| 
-    require "#{File.expand_path(File.dirname(__FILE__))}/#{test_case}" 
+  Dir.glob('**/test_*.rb') do |test_case|
+    require "#{File.expand_path(File.dirname(__FILE__))}/#{test_case}"
   end
 end
+
+# To run a single test:
+# require_relative 'units/test_lib_meets_required_version'
diff --git a/tests/units/test_init.rb b/tests/units/test_init.rb
index 4ec4771d..596d42bb 100644
--- a/tests/units/test_init.rb
+++ b/tests/units/test_init.rb
@@ -38,7 +38,10 @@ def test_git_init
       assert(File.directory?(File.join(path, '.git')))
       assert(File.exist?(File.join(path, '.git', 'config')))
       assert_equal('false', repo.config('core.bare'))
-      assert_equal("ref: refs/heads/master\n", File.read("#{path}/.git/HEAD"))
+
+      branch = `git config --get init.defaultBranch`.strip
+      branch = 'master' if branch.empty?
+      assert_equal("ref: refs/heads/#{branch}\n", File.read("#{path}/.git/HEAD"))
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/tests/units/test_lib.rb b/tests/units/test_lib.rb
index 71acd21e..f886a400 100644
--- a/tests/units/test_lib.rb
+++ b/tests/units/test_lib.rb
@@ -87,6 +87,19 @@ def test_checkout
     assert(@lib.checkout('master'))
   end
 
+  def test_checkout_with_start_point
+    assert(@lib.reset(nil, hard: true)) # to get around worktree status on windows
+
+    actual_cmd = nil
+    @lib.define_singleton_method(:run_command) do |git_cmd, &block|
+      actual_cmd = git_cmd
+      super(git_cmd, &block)
+    end
+
+    assert(@lib.checkout('test_checkout_b2', {new_branch: true, start_point: 'master'}))
+    assert_match(%r/checkout ['"]-b['"] ['"]test_checkout_b2['"] ['"]master['"]/, actual_cmd)
+  end
+
   # takes parameters, returns array of appropriate commit objects
   # :count
   # :since
diff --git a/tests/units/test_lib_meets_required_version.rb b/tests/units/test_lib_meets_required_version.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fce57241
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/units/test_lib_meets_required_version.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env ruby
+
+require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../test_helper'
+
+class TestLibMeetsRequiredVersion < Test::Unit::TestCase
+  def test_with_supported_command_version
+    lib = Git::Lib.new(nil, nil)
+    major_version, minor_version = lib.required_command_version
+    lib.define_singleton_method(:current_command_version) { [major_version, minor_version] }
+    assert lib.meets_required_version?
+  end
+
+  def test_with_old_command_version
+    lib = Git::Lib.new(nil, nil)
+    major_version, minor_version = lib.required_command_version
+
+    # Set the major version to be returned by #current_command_version to be an
+    # earlier version than required
+    major_version = major_version - 1
+
+    lib.define_singleton_method(:current_command_version) { [major_version, minor_version] }
+    assert !lib.meets_required_version?
+  end
+end
diff --git a/tests/units/test_ls_files_with_escaped_path.rb b/tests/units/test_ls_files_with_escaped_path.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..47607dd3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/units/test_ls_files_with_escaped_path.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env ruby
+# encoding: utf-8
+
+require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../test_helper'
+
+# Test diff when the file path has to be quoted according to core.quotePath
+# See https://git-scm.com/docs/git-config#Documentation/git-config.txt-corequotePath
+#
+class TestLsFilesWithEscapedPath < Test::Unit::TestCase
+  def test_diff_with_non_ascii_filename
+    in_temp_dir do |path|
+      create_file('my_other_file_☠', "First Line\n")
+      create_file('README.md', '# My Project')
+      `git init`
+      `git add .`
+      `git config --local core.safecrlf false` if Gem.win_platform?
+      `git commit -m "First Commit"`
+      paths = Git.open('.').ls_files.keys.sort
+      assert_equal(["my_other_file_☠", 'README.md'].sort, paths)
+    end
+  end
+end