diff --git a/src/plugins/github/parseReferences.js b/src/plugins/github/parseReferences.js
index 919399a..5c2d307 100644
--- a/src/plugins/github/parseReferences.js
+++ b/src/plugins/github/parseReferences.js
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ function parseReferencesFromRawString(textBlock: string): ParsedReference[] {
     ...findRepoNumericReferences(textBlock),
     ...findGithubUrlReferences(textBlock),
     ...findUsernameReferences(textBlock),
+    ...findCommitReferences(textBlock),
   ];
 }
 
@@ -98,6 +99,47 @@ function findGithubUrlReferences(textBlock: string): ParsedReference[] {
   }));
 }
 
+function findCommitReferences(textBlock: string): ParsedReference[] {
+  const hashReferences = findAllMatches(
+    /(?:\W|^)([a-fA-F0-9]{40,})(?=\W|$)/gm,
+    textBlock
+  ).map((x) => ({
+    refType: "BASIC",
+    ref: x[1].toLowerCase(),
+  }));
+  const commitUrlRegex = new RegExp(
+    "" +
+      /(?:\W|^)/.source +
+      "(" +
+      /https?:\/\/github.com\//.source +
+      `(?:${githubOwnerPattern})` +
+      /\//.source +
+      `(?:${githubRepoPattern})` +
+      /\/commit\/([a-fA-F0-9]{40,})/.source +
+      ")" +
+      /(?=[^\w/]|$)/.source,
+    "gm"
+  );
+  const urlsAndHashes = findAllMatches(commitUrlRegex, textBlock).map((x) => ({
+    url: x[1].toLowerCase(),
+    hash: x[2].toLowerCase(),
+  }));
+  // Every urlReference will also generate a hash reference (because the
+  // url contains the hash).  So we manually remove the duplicates.
+  for (const {url, hash} of urlsAndHashes) {
+    const idxToRemove = hashReferences.findIndex(({ref}) => ref === hash);
+    if (idxToRemove === -1) {
+      throw new Error(`No matching hash for url reference: ${url}`);
+    }
+    hashReferences.splice(idxToRemove, 1);
+  }
+  const urlReferences = urlsAndHashes.map((x) => ({
+    refType: "BASIC",
+    ref: x.url,
+  }));
+  return [...hashReferences, ...urlReferences];
+}
+
 function findAllMatches(re: RegExp, s: string): any[] {
   // modified from: https://stackoverflow.com/a/6323598
   let m;
diff --git a/src/plugins/github/parseReferences.test.js b/src/plugins/github/parseReferences.test.js
index 93a38ed..f2bb407 100644
--- a/src/plugins/github/parseReferences.test.js
+++ b/src/plugins/github/parseReferences.test.js
@@ -109,6 +109,9 @@ https://github.com/sourcecred/exa_mple-git.hub/pull/5#discussion_r171460198
 
     A directly linked pull request comment:
 https://github.com/sourcecred/exa_mple-git.hub/pull/3#issuecomment-369162222
+
+    A directly linked commit:
+https://github.com/sourcecred/exa_mple-git.hub/commit/6bd1b4c0b719c22c688a74863be07a699b7b9b34
     `;
 
     const expected = [
@@ -150,6 +153,11 @@ https://github.com/sourcecred/exa_mple-git.hub/pull/3#issuecomment-369162222
         ref:
           "https://github.com/sourcecred/exa_mple-git.hub/pull/3#issuecomment-369162222",
       },
+      {
+        refType: "BASIC",
+        ref:
+          "https://github.com/sourcecred/exa_mple-git.hub/commit/6bd1b4c0b719c22c688a74863be07a699b7b9b34",
+      },
     ];
 
     expect(parseReferences(example)).toEqual(expected);
@@ -182,6 +190,56 @@ https://github.com/sourcecred/exa_mple-git.hub/pull/3#issuecomment-369162222
     ]);
   });
 
+  describe("commit references", () => {
+    const commitHash = "6bd1b4c0b719c22c688a74863be07a699b7b9b34";
+    const urlPrefix = "https://github.com/sourcecred/example-github/commit/";
+    it("are valid if they are 40-chars long and all hex", () => {
+      expect(parseReferences(commitHash)).toEqual([
+        {refType: "BASIC", ref: commitHash},
+      ]);
+    });
+    it("are canonicalized to lower-case capitalization", () => {
+      const capitalizedHash = "6BD1B4C0B719C22C688A74863be07a699b7b9b34";
+      const capitalizedUrl = `${urlPrefix}${capitalizedHash}`;
+      expect(parseReferences(capitalizedHash)).toEqual([
+        {refType: "BASIC", ref: commitHash},
+      ]);
+      expect(parseReferences(capitalizedUrl)).toEqual([
+        {refType: "BASIC", ref: `${urlPrefix}${commitHash}`},
+      ]);
+    });
+    it("are valid even if they have surrounding text", () => {
+      expect(parseReferences(`hello ${commitHash} world`)).toEqual([
+        {refType: "BASIC", ref: commitHash},
+      ]);
+    });
+    it("are not valid if fewer than 40 chars long", () => {
+      expect(parseReferences(`bad: ${commitHash.slice(0, 38)}`)).toHaveLength(
+        0
+      );
+    });
+    it("are valid if they are 64 characters long", () => {
+      const hash64 =
+        "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000";
+      expect(parseReferences(hash64)).toEqual([
+        {ref: hash64, refType: "BASIC"},
+      ]);
+    });
+    it("are not valid if contain non-hex characters", () => {
+      expect(
+        parseReferences("6bd1b4c0b719c22c688a74863be07a699b7b9b3X")
+      ).toHaveLength(0);
+    });
+    it("if there is a ref to the url and hash, they are both found once", () => {
+      const commitUrl = `https://github.com/sourcecred/example-github/commit/${commitHash}`;
+      const text = `${commitHash} ${commitUrl}`;
+      const result = parseReferences(text);
+      const hashRef = {refType: "BASIC", ref: commitHash};
+      const urlRef = {refType: "BASIC", ref: commitUrl};
+      expect(result).toEqual([hashRef, urlRef]);
+    });
+  });
+
   it("finds username references", () => {
     expect(parseReferences("hello to @wchargin from @decentralion!")).toEqual([
       {refType: "BASIC", ref: "@wchargin"},