diff --git a/docs/sphinx/source/_templates/breadcrumbs.html b/docs/sphinx/source/_templates/breadcrumbs.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b2078c9119
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/sphinx/source/_templates/breadcrumbs.html
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+{#
+
+Modify the "Edit on Github" links to handle auto-generated pages in the
+example gallery and the API reference listings.  The GH links that sphinx
+generates by default make the assumption that an HTML file comes from an RST
+file with the same filepath, which isn't the case for autogenerated files.
+
+We need to generate the target URL differently based on the type
+of page.  We use the built-in `pagename` variable to determine what
+kind of page this is.  `pagename` is the path at the end of the
+URL, without the extension.  For instance,
+https://pvlib-python.rtfd.org/en/stable/auto_examples/plot_singlediode.html
+will have pagename = "auto_examples/plot_singlediode".
+
+Note: make_github_url is defined in conf.py
+#}
+
+{% extends "!breadcrumbs.html" %}
+{% block breadcrumbs_aside %}
+    <li class="wy-breadcrumbs-aside">
+        {# Get the appropriate GH link based on this page's name: #}
+        {% set target_url = make_github_url(pagename) %}
+        {# Create the HTML element with our custom GH link: #}
+        <a href="{{ target_url }}" class="fa fa-github">View on Github</a>
+    </li>
+{% endblock %}
diff --git a/docs/sphinx/source/conf.py b/docs/sphinx/source/conf.py
index 7e050726e8..413c2b94b6 100644
--- a/docs/sphinx/source/conf.py
+++ b/docs/sphinx/source/conf.py
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@
 # for warning suppression
 import warnings
 
+# for generating GH links with linenumbers
+import inspect
+
 
 class Mock(MagicMock):
     @classmethod
@@ -231,7 +234,6 @@ def setup(app):
     # Override footnote callout CSS to be normal text instead of superscript
     app.add_stylesheet("no_reference_superscript.css")
 
-
 # -- Options for LaTeX output ---------------------------------------------
 
 latex_elements = {
@@ -345,3 +347,95 @@ def setup(app):
 warnings.filterwarnings("ignore", category=UserWarning,
                         message='Matplotlib is currently using agg, which is a'
                                 ' non-GUI backend, so cannot show the figure.')
+
+# %% helper functions for intelligent "View on Github" linking
+# based on
+# https://gist.github.com/flying-sheep/b65875c0ce965fbdd1d9e5d0b9851ef1
+
+
+def get_obj_module(qualname):
+    """
+    Get a module/class/attribute and its original module by qualname.
+    Useful for looking up the original location when a function is imported
+    into an __init__.py
+
+    Examples
+    --------
+    >>> func, mod = get_obj_module("pvlib.iotools.read_midc")
+    >>> mod.__name__
+    'pvlib.iotools.midc'
+    """
+    modname = qualname
+    classname = None
+    attrname = None
+    while modname not in sys.modules:
+        attrname = classname
+        modname, classname = modname.rsplit('.', 1)
+
+    # retrieve object and find original module name
+    if classname:
+        cls = getattr(sys.modules[modname], classname)
+        modname = cls.__module__
+        obj = getattr(cls, attrname) if attrname else cls
+    else:
+        obj = None
+
+    return obj, sys.modules[modname]
+
+
+def get_linenos(obj):
+    """Get an object’s line numbers in its source code file"""
+    try:
+        lines, start = inspect.getsourcelines(obj)
+    except TypeError:  # obj is an attribute or None
+        return None, None
+    else:
+        return start, start + len(lines) - 1
+
+
+def make_github_url(pagename):
+    """
+    Generate the appropriate GH link for a given docs page.  This function
+    is intended for use in sphinx template files.
+
+    The target URL is built differently based on the type of page.  Sphinx
+    provides templates with a built-in `pagename` variable that is the path
+    at the end of the URL, without the extension.  For instance,
+    https://pvlib-python.rtfd.org/en/stable/auto_examples/plot_singlediode.html
+    will have pagename = "auto_examples/plot_singlediode".
+    """
+
+    URL_BASE = "https://github.com/pvlib/pvlib-python/blob/master/"
+
+    # is it a gallery page?
+    if any(d in pagename for d in sphinx_gallery_conf['gallery_dirs']):
+        if pagename.split("/")[-1] == "index":
+            example_file = "README.rst"
+        else:
+            example_file = pagename.split("/")[-1] + ".py"
+        target_url = URL_BASE + "docs/examples/" + example_file
+
+    # is it an API autogen page?
+    elif "generated" in pagename:
+        # pagename looks like "generated/pvlib.location.Location"
+        qualname = pagename.split("/")[-1]
+        obj, module = get_obj_module(qualname)
+        path = module.__name__.replace(".", "/") + ".py"
+        target_url = URL_BASE + path
+        # add line numbers if possible:
+        start, end = get_linenos(obj)
+        if start and end:
+            target_url += '#L{}-L{}'.format(start, end)
+
+    # Just a normal source RST page
+    else:
+        target_url = URL_BASE + "docs/sphinx/source/" + pagename + ".rst"
+
+    return target_url
+
+
+# variables to pass into the HTML templating engine; these are accessible from
+# _templates/breadcrumbs.html
+html_context = {
+    'make_github_url': make_github_url,
+}