diff -r ca2a35140e6a Doc/library/heapq.rst
--- a/Doc/library/heapq.rst	Mon Jan 09 06:17:39 2012 +0000
+++ b/Doc/library/heapq.rst	Mon Jan 09 11:27:31 2012 +0100
@@ -81,15 +81,19 @@
 The module also offers three general purpose functions based on heaps.
 
 
-.. function:: merge(*iterables)
+.. function:: merge(*iterables [, key])
 
    Merge multiple sorted inputs into a single sorted output (for example, merge
    timestamped entries from multiple log files).  Returns an :term:`iterator`
    over the sorted values.
 
-   Similar to ``sorted(itertools.chain(*iterables))`` but returns an iterable, does
-   not pull the data into memory all at once, and assumes that each of the input
-   streams is already sorted (smallest to largest).
+   *key* specifies a function of one argument that is used to extract a
+   comparison key from each list element: ``key=str.lower``.  The default
+   value is ``None`` (compare the elements directly).
+
+   Similar to ``sorted(itertools.chain(*iterables), key=key)`` but returns an
+   iterable, does not pull the data into memory all at once, and assumes that
+   each of the input streams is already sorted (smallest to largest).
 
 
 .. function:: nlargest(n, iterable, key=None)
@@ -289,4 +293,3 @@
    backwards, and this was also used to avoid the rewinding time. Believe me, real
    good tape sorts were quite spectacular to watch! From all times, sorting has
    always been a Great Art! :-)
-
diff -r ca2a35140e6a Lib/heapq.py
--- a/Lib/heapq.py	Mon Jan 09 06:17:39 2012 +0000
+++ b/Lib/heapq.py	Mon Jan 09 11:27:31 2012 +0100
@@ -312,7 +312,7 @@
 except ImportError:
     pass
 
-def merge(*iterables):
+def merge(*iterables, key=None):
     '''Merge multiple sorted inputs into a single sorted output.
 
     Similar to sorted(itertools.chain(*iterables)) but returns a generator,
@@ -327,10 +327,12 @@
 
     h = []
     h_append = h.append
+    key_is_None = key is None
     for itnum, it in enumerate(map(iter, iterables)):
         try:
             next = it.__next__
-            h_append([next(), itnum, next])
+            v = next()
+            h_append([v if key_is_None else key(v), itnum, v, next])
         except _StopIteration:
             pass
     heapify(h)
@@ -338,9 +340,12 @@
     while 1:
         try:
             while 1:
-                v, itnum, next = s = h[0]   # raises IndexError when h is empty
+                # raises IndexError when h is empty
+                k, itnum, v, next = s = h[0]
                 yield v
-                s[0] = next()               # raises StopIteration when exhausted
+                v = next()                  # raises StopIteration when exhausted
+                s[0] = v if key_is_None else key(v)
+                s[2] = v
                 _heapreplace(h, s)          # restore heap condition
         except _StopIteration:
             _heappop(h)                     # remove empty iterator
diff -r ca2a35140e6a Lib/test/test_heapq.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_heapq.py	Mon Jan 09 06:17:39 2012 +0000
+++ b/Lib/test/test_heapq.py	Mon Jan 09 11:27:31 2012 +0100
@@ -155,8 +155,15 @@
         for i in range(random.randrange(5)):
             row = sorted(random.randrange(1000) for j in range(random.randrange(10)))
             inputs.append(row)
-        self.assertEqual(sorted(chain(*inputs)), list(self.module.merge(*inputs)))
+        self.assertEqual(sorted(chain(*inputs)),
+                         list(self.module.merge(*inputs)))
+        key = lambda i: abs(i - 500)  # something non-monotonous
+        for row in inputs:
+            row.sort(key=key)
+        self.assertEqual(sorted(chain(*inputs), key=key),
+                         list(self.module.merge(*inputs, key=key)))
         self.assertEqual(list(self.module.merge()), [])
+        self.assertEqual(list(self.module.merge(key=key)), [])
 
     def test_merge_stability(self):
         class Int(int):
diff -r ca2a35140e6a Misc/ACKS
--- a/Misc/ACKS	Mon Jan 09 06:17:39 2012 +0000
+++ b/Misc/ACKS	Mon Jan 09 11:27:31 2012 +0100
@@ -871,6 +871,7 @@
 Kevin Samborn
 Adrian Sampson
 Ilya Sandler
+Simon Sapin
 Mark Sapiro
 Ty Sarna
 Ben Sayer