diff --git a/langchain/document_loaders/readthedocs.py b/langchain/document_loaders/readthedocs.py
index bb10a0e9..979b4ae1 100644
--- a/langchain/document_loaders/readthedocs.py
+++ b/langchain/document_loaders/readthedocs.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 """Loader that loads ReadTheDocs documentation directory dump."""
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import Any, List, Optional
+from typing import Any, List, Optional, Tuple, Union
 
 from langchain.docstore.document import Document
 from langchain.document_loaders.base import BaseLoader
@@ -11,12 +11,31 @@ class ReadTheDocsLoader(BaseLoader):
 
     def __init__(
         self,
-        path: str,
+        path: Union[str, Path],
         encoding: Optional[str] = None,
         errors: Optional[str] = None,
+        custom_html_tag: Optional[Tuple[str, dict]] = None,
         **kwargs: Optional[Any]
     ):
-        """Initialize path."""
+        """
+        Initialize ReadTheDocsLoader
+
+        The loader loops over all files under `path` and extract the actual content of
+        the files by retrieving main html tags. Default main html tags include
+        `<main id="main-content>`, <`div role="main>`, and `<article role="main">`. You
+        can also define your own html tags by passing custom_html_tag, e.g.
+        `("div", "class=main")`. The loader iterates html tags with the order of
+        custom html tags (if exists) and default html tags. If any of the tags is not
+        empty, the loop will break and retrieve the content out of that tag.
+
+        Args:
+            path: The location of pulled readthedocs folder.
+            encoding: The encoding with which to open the documents.
+            errors: Specifies how encoding and decoding errors are to be handled—this
+                cannot be used in binary mode.
+            custom_html_tag: Optional custom html tag to retrieve the content from
+                files.
+        """
         try:
             from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
         except ImportError:
@@ -32,34 +51,50 @@ class ReadTheDocsLoader(BaseLoader):
         except Exception as e:
             raise ValueError("Parsing kwargs do not appear valid") from e
 
-        self.file_path = path
+        self.file_path = Path(path)
         self.encoding = encoding
         self.errors = errors
+        self.custom_html_tag = custom_html_tag
         self.bs_kwargs = kwargs
 
     def load(self) -> List[Document]:
         """Load documents."""
-        from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
-
-        def _clean_data(data: str) -> str:
-            soup = BeautifulSoup(data, **self.bs_kwargs)
-            text = soup.find_all("main", {"id": "main-content"})
-
-            if len(text) == 0:
-                text = soup.find_all("div", {"role": "main"})
-
-            if len(text) != 0:
-                text = text[0].get_text()
-            else:
-                text = ""
-            return "\n".join([t for t in text.split("\n") if t])
-
         docs = []
-        for p in Path(self.file_path).rglob("*"):
+        for p in self.file_path.rglob("*"):
             if p.is_dir():
                 continue
             with open(p, encoding=self.encoding, errors=self.errors) as f:
-                text = _clean_data(f.read())
+                text = self._clean_data(f.read())
             metadata = {"source": str(p)}
             docs.append(Document(page_content=text, metadata=metadata))
         return docs
+
+    def _clean_data(self, data: str) -> str:
+        from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
+
+        soup = BeautifulSoup(data, **self.bs_kwargs)
+
+        # default tags
+        html_tags = [
+            ("div", {"role": "main"}),
+            ("main", {"id": "main-content"}),
+        ]
+
+        if self.custom_html_tag is not None:
+            html_tags.append(self.custom_html_tag)
+
+        text = None
+
+        # reversed order. check the custom one first
+        for tag, attrs in html_tags[::-1]:
+            text = soup.find(tag, attrs)
+            # if found, break
+            if text is not None:
+                break
+
+        if text is not None:
+            text = text.get_text()
+        else:
+            text = ""
+        # trim empty lines
+        return "\n".join([t for t in text.split("\n") if t])
diff --git a/tests/unit_tests/document_loaders/test_docs/readthedocs/custom/test.html b/tests/unit_tests/document_loaders/test_docs/readthedocs/custom/test.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9b148a77
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit_tests/document_loaders/test_docs/readthedocs/custom/test.html
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+<html>
+    <article role="main">
+    Hello World!
+    </article>
+</html>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/unit_tests/document_loaders/test_docs/readthedocs/div_role_main/test.html b/tests/unit_tests/document_loaders/test_docs/readthedocs/div_role_main/test.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d528c7ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit_tests/document_loaders/test_docs/readthedocs/div_role_main/test.html
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+<html>
+    <div role="main">
+    Hello World!
+    </div>
+</html>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/unit_tests/document_loaders/test_docs/readthedocs/main_id_main_content/test.html b/tests/unit_tests/document_loaders/test_docs/readthedocs/main_id_main_content/test.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1790735a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit_tests/document_loaders/test_docs/readthedocs/main_id_main_content/test.html
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+<html>
+    <main id="main-content">
+    Hello World!
+    </main>
+</html>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/unit_tests/document_loaders/test_readthedoc.py b/tests/unit_tests/document_loaders/test_readthedoc.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9bcaae2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit_tests/document_loaders/test_readthedoc.py
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pytest
+
+from langchain.document_loaders.readthedocs import ReadTheDocsLoader
+
+PARENT_DIR = Path(__file__).parent / "test_docs" / "readthedocs"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.requires("bs4")
+def test_main_id_main_content() -> None:
+    loader = ReadTheDocsLoader(PARENT_DIR / "main_id_main_content")
+    documents = loader.load()
+    assert len(documents[0].page_content) != 0
+
+
+@pytest.mark.requires("bs4")
+def test_div_role_main() -> None:
+    loader = ReadTheDocsLoader(PARENT_DIR / "div_role_main")
+    documents = loader.load()
+    assert len(documents[0].page_content) != 0
+
+
+@pytest.mark.requires("bs4")
+def test_custom() -> None:
+    loader = ReadTheDocsLoader(
+        PARENT_DIR / "custom",
+        custom_html_tag=("article", {"role": "main"}),
+    )
+    documents = loader.load()
+    assert len(documents[0].page_content) != 0
+
+
+@pytest.mark.requires("bs4")
+def test_empty() -> None:
+    loader = ReadTheDocsLoader(
+        PARENT_DIR / "custom",
+    )
+    documents = loader.load()
+    assert len(documents[0].page_content) == 0