diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b21218b..b3f6cda 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,14 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [0.8.0] - 2019-12-25
+
+### Added
+- Support for passing in a prepopulated PageArray of menu items via the menu_items option.
+
+### Fixed
+- Fixed an issue where include option root_page wasn't being properly reset (since 0.7.0).
+
 ## [0.7.0] - 2019-12-18
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/MarkupMenu.info.json b/MarkupMenu.info.json
index f92ad85..8597168 100644
--- a/MarkupMenu.info.json
+++ b/MarkupMenu.info.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
     "title": "MarkupMenu",
     "summary": "MarkupMenu is a module for generating menu markup.",
-    "version": "0.7.0",
+    "version": "0.8.0",
     "author": "Teppo Koivula",
     "href": "https://github.com/teppokoivula/MarkupMenu",
     "requires": [
diff --git a/MarkupMenu.module.php b/MarkupMenu.module.php
index f5addc4..329e569 100644
--- a/MarkupMenu.module.php
+++ b/MarkupMenu.module.php
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
  * MarkupMenu is a module for generating menu markup. See README.md for more details.
  * Some ideas and code in this module are based on the Markup Simple Navigation module.
  *
- * @version 0.7.0
+ * @version 0.8.0
  * @author Teppo Koivula <teppo.koivula@gmail.com>
  * @license Mozilla Public License v2.0 http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/
  */
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ class MarkupMenu extends WireData implements Module {
      */
     public static $defaultOptions = [
         'root_page' => null,
+        'menu_items' => null,
         'current_page' => null,
         'templates' => [
             'nav' => '<nav class="{classes}">%s</nav>',
@@ -71,7 +72,7 @@ public function render(array $options = []): string {
         );
 
         // get the root page
-        $options['root_page'] = $this->getPage($options['root_page'], '/');
+        $options['root_page'] = $this->getPage($options['root_page'], empty($options['menu_items']) ? '/' : null);
 
         // get current page
         $options['current_page'] = $this->getPage($options['current_page']);
@@ -79,26 +80,33 @@ public function render(array $options = []): string {
         // load MarkupMenuData
         require_once __DIR__ . '/MarkupMenuData.php';
 
-        // generate and return menu markup
-        $menu = $this->renderTree($options, $options['root_page']);
+        // generate menu markup
+        $menu = '';
+        if (!empty($options['root_page'] || !empty($options['menu_items']))) {
+            $menu = $this->renderTree($options, $options['root_page'], $options['menu_items']);
+        }
+
         return $menu;
-        
     }
 
     /**
      * Render tree of items using recursion
      *
      * @param array $options Options for rendering
-     * @param Page $root Root page for the menu
+     * @param Page|null $root Root page for the menu
+     * @param PageArray|null $items Menu items
      * @param int $level Current tree level (depth)
      * @return string Rendered menu markup
      */
-    protected function renderTree(array $options = [], Page $root, int $level = 1): string {
+    protected function renderTree(array $options = [], Page $root = null, PageArray $items = null, int $level = 1): string {
 
         $out = '';
 
-        // get items
-        $items = $this->getItems($options, $root, $level);
+        // get items and make sure that root page is only prepended once
+        if (empty($items)) {
+            $items = $this->getItems($options, $root, $level);
+            $options['include']['root_page'] = false;
+        }
 
         // iterate items and render markup for each separately
         foreach ($items as $item) {
@@ -124,28 +132,26 @@ protected function renderTree(array $options = [], Page $root, int $level = 1):
         }
 
         return $out;
-
     }
 
     /**
      * Get menu items for rendering
      *
-     * @param array $options Options array.
-     * @param Page $root Root page for the menu
+     * @param array $options Options array
+     * @param Page|null $root Root page for the menu
      * @param int $level Current tree level (depth)
      * @return PageArray Menu items
      */
-    protected function ___getItems(array $options, Page $root, int $level): PageArray {
+    protected function ___getItems(array $options, Page $root = null, int $level): PageArray {
 
         // fetch items (children of the root page), optionally filtered by a selector string
         $items = new PageArray();
-        if (!$options['include']['root_page'] || $options['flat_root']) {
+        if (!empty($root) && (!$options['include']['root_page'] || $options['flat_root'])) {
             $items->add($root->children($options['include']['selector']));
         }
 
-        // optionally prepend the root page itself – but only once!
-        if ($options['include']['root_page']) {
-            $options['include']['root_page'] = false;
+        // optionally prepend the root page itself
+        if ($options['include']['root_page'] && !empty($root)) {
             $items->prepend($root);
         }
 
@@ -162,11 +168,12 @@ protected function ___getItems(array $options, Page $root, int $level): PageArra
      *
      * @param array $options Options for rendering
      * @param Page $item Menu item being rendered
+     * @param Page|null $root Root page for the menu
      * @param bool $with_children Include markup for child pages?
      * @param int $level Current tree level (depth)
      * @return string Rendered menu item markup
      */
-    protected function ___renderTreeItem(array $options = [], Page $item, Page $root, int $level = 1): string {
+    protected function ___renderTreeItem(array $options = [], Page $item, Page $root = null, int $level = 1): string {
 
         $out = '';
 
@@ -186,14 +193,14 @@ protected function ___renderTreeItem(array $options = [], Page $item, Page $root
         if ($item_is_current) $classes['current'] = $options['classes']['current'];
 
         // is this a parent page?
-        $item_is_parent = !$item_is_current && ($item->id !== $root->id || !$options['flat_root']) && $options['current_page'] && $options['current_page']->parents->has($item);
+        $item_is_parent = !$item_is_current && (!empty($root) && $item->id !== $root->id || !$options['flat_root']) && $options['current_page'] && $options['current_page']->parents->has($item);
         if ($item_is_parent) $classes['parent'] = $options['classes']['parent'];
 
         // have we reached the level limit?
         $level_limit_reached = $options['exclude']['level_greater_than'] && $level >= $options['exclude']['level_greater_than'];
 
         // does this page have children?
-        $has_children = ($item->id !== $root->id || !$options['flat_root']) && !$level_limit_reached && $item->hasChildren;
+        $has_children = (!empty($root) && $item->id !== $root->id || !$options['flat_root']) && !$level_limit_reached && $item->hasChildren;
         if ($has_children) $classes['has_children'] = $options['classes']['has_children'];
 
         // should we render the children for this item?
@@ -222,14 +229,13 @@ protected function ___renderTreeItem(array $options = [], Page $item, Page $root
 
         // generate markup for menu item children
         if ($with_children) {
-            $item_markup .= $this->renderTree($options, $item, $level + 1);
+            $item_markup .= $this->renderTree($options, $item, null, $level + 1);
         }
 
         // generate markup for current list item
         $out .= $this->applyTemplate('list_item', $item_markup, $placeholders, $options, $item);
 
         return $out;
-
     }
 
     /**
@@ -254,7 +260,6 @@ protected function getPage($source = null, $default = null): ?Page {
         }
 
         return $page;
- 
     }
 
     /**
@@ -301,7 +306,6 @@ protected function applyTemplate(string $template_name, string $content, array $
         }
 
         return $out;
-
     }
 
     /**
@@ -337,7 +341,6 @@ protected function parseClassesString(array $placeholders, array $options, strin
         }
 
         return $out;
-
     }
 
 }
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ccf783f..210c6a9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -19,8 +19,9 @@ echo $modules->get('MarkupMenu')->render([
 ]);
 ```
 
-Note: if you omit root_page, site root page is used by default. If you omit current_page, the menu
-will be rendered, but current (active) page won't be highlighted.
+Note: if you omit root_page, site root page is used by default – unless you've specified the menu_items
+option instead, in which case a root page is not necessary. If you omit current_page, the menu will be
+rendered, but current (active) page can't be highlighted.
 
 ## Options
 
@@ -30,9 +31,13 @@ via site config setting `$config->MarkupMenu`.
 
 ```
 [
-    // 'root_page' is the starting point for the menu.
+    // 'root_page' is the starting point for the menu. This is optional if you specify the 'menu_items'
+    // option instead, but leaving *both* empty will make MarkupMenu::render() return an empty string.
     'root_page' => null,
 
+    // 'menu_items' is an optional, prepopulated PageArray of first level menu items.
+    'menu_items' => null,
+
     // 'current' page is the current or active menu page.
     'current_page' => null,