diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 7ab85fa197..e2bb1d2c6d 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ fn actual_main() -> Result<(), i32> {
         }
         (false, true) => {
             if opts.update {
-                panic!("No packages to update and neither --list nor --all specified, this should've been caught by option parser\
+                panic!("No packages to update and neither --list nor --all specified, this should've been caught by option parser \
                         (please report to http://github.com/nabijaczleweli/cargo-update)")
             }
         }
@@ -184,6 +184,7 @@ fn actual_main() -> Result<(), i32> {
                                     package.update_to_version().unwrap().to_string()
                                 })
                                 .arg(&package.name)
+                                .args(&opts.cargo_install_args)
                                 .status()
                         } else {
                             Command::new("cargo")
@@ -193,6 +194,7 @@ fn actual_main() -> Result<(), i32> {
                                 .arg("--vers")
                                 .arg(package.update_to_version().unwrap().to_string())
                                 .arg(&package.name)
+                                .args(&opts.cargo_install_args)
                                 .status()
                         }
                         .unwrap();
@@ -307,7 +309,7 @@ fn actual_main() -> Result<(), i32> {
                                 if let Some(ref b) = package.branch.as_ref() {
                                     cmd.arg("--branch").arg(b);
                                 }
-                                cmd.status()
+                                cmd.args(&opts.cargo_install_args).status()
                             } else {
                                 let mut cmd = Command::new("cargo");
                                 cmd.arg("install")
@@ -319,7 +321,7 @@ fn actual_main() -> Result<(), i32> {
                                 if let Some(ref b) = package.branch.as_ref() {
                                     cmd.arg("--branch").arg(b);
                                 }
-                                cmd.status()
+                                cmd.args(&opts.cargo_install_args).status()
                             }
                             .unwrap();
 
diff --git a/src/options.rs b/src/options.rs
index 090dd5b218..b9de1c3187 100644
--- a/src/options.rs
+++ b/src/options.rs
@@ -15,12 +15,12 @@
 use self::super::ops::{PackageFilterElement, ConfigOperation};
 use semver::{VersionReq as SemverReq, Version as Semver};
 use clap::{self, AppSettings, SubCommand, App, Arg};
+use std::ffi::{OsString, OsStr};
 use array_tool::vec::Uniq;
 use std::path::PathBuf;
 use std::str::FromStr;
 use dirs::home_dir;
-use std::env;
-use std::fs;
+use std::{env, fs};
 
 
 /// Representation of the application's all configurable values.
@@ -49,6 +49,8 @@ pub struct Options {
     pub cargo_dir: (String, PathBuf),
     /// The temporary directory to clone git repositories to. Default: `"$TEMP/cargo-update"`
     pub temp_dir: (String, PathBuf),
+    /// Arbitrary arguments to forward to `cargo install`, acquired from `$CARGO_INSTALL_OPTS`. Default: `[]`
+    pub cargo_install_args: Vec<OsString>,
 }
 
 /// Representation of the config application's all configurable values.
@@ -86,6 +88,13 @@ impl Options {
                         Arg::from_usage("-q --quiet 'No output printed to stdout'"),
                         Arg::from_usage("-s --filter=[PACKAGE_FILTER]... 'Specify a filter a package must match to be considered'")
                             .validator(|s| PackageFilterElement::parse(&s).map(|_| ())),
+                        Arg::with_name("cargo_install_opts")
+                            .long("__CARGO_INSTALL_OPTS")
+                            .env("CARGO_INSTALL_OPTS")
+                            .empty_values(false)
+                            .multiple(true)
+                            .value_delimiter(" ")
+                            .hidden(true),
                         Arg::from_usage("[PACKAGE]... 'Packages to update'")
                             .empty_values(false)
                             .min_values(1)
@@ -145,6 +154,7 @@ impl Options {
                          }),
                  temp_pb.join("cargo-update"))
             },
+            cargo_install_args: matches.values_of_os("cargo_install_opts").into_iter().flat_map(|cio| cio.map(OsStr::to_os_string)).collect(),
         }
     }
 }