diff --git a/docs/reference/cli.rst b/docs/reference/cli.rst
index 93b9b6253..b2683cd86 100644
--- a/docs/reference/cli.rst
+++ b/docs/reference/cli.rst
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ update
 ``````
 ::
 
-    beet update [-aM] QUERY
+    beet update [-F] FIELD [-aM] QUERY
 
 Update the library (and, optionally, move files) to reflect out-of-band metadata
 changes and file deletions.
@@ -288,6 +288,11 @@ To perform a "dry run" of an update, just use the ``-p`` (for "pretend") flag.
 This will show you all the proposed changes but won't actually change anything
 on disk.
 
+By default, all the changed metadata will be populated back to the database.
+If you only want certain fields to be written, specify them with the ```-F```
+flags (which can be used multiple times). For the list of supported fields,
+please see ```beet fields```.
+
 When an updated track is part of an album, the album-level fields of *all*
 tracks from the album are also updated. (Specifically, the command copies
 album-level data from the first track on the album and applies it to the
@@ -318,7 +323,7 @@ You can think of this command as the opposite of :ref:`update-cmd`.
 
 The ``-p`` option previews metadata changes without actually applying them.
 
-The ``-f`` option forces a write to the file, even if the file tags match the database. This is useful for making sure that enabled plugins that run on write (e.g., the Scrub and Zero plugins) are run on the file. 
+The ``-f`` option forces a write to the file, even if the file tags match the database. This is useful for making sure that enabled plugins that run on write (e.g., the Scrub and Zero plugins) are run on the file.