diff --git a/beets/ui/commands.py b/beets/ui/commands.py
index f5b92ada1..74e7f7d45 100755
--- a/beets/ui/commands.py
+++ b/beets/ui/commands.py
@@ -1196,19 +1196,37 @@ default_commands.append(list_cmd)
 
 # update: Update library contents according to on-disk tags.
 
-def update_items(lib, query, album, move, pretend, fields):
+def update_items(lib, query, album, move, pretend, fields,
+                 exclude_fields=None):
     """For all the items matched by the query, update the library to
     reflect the item's embedded tags.
     :param fields: The fields to be stored. If not specified, all fields will
     be.
+    :param exclude_fields: The fields to not be stored. If not specified, all
+    fields will be.
     """
     with lib.transaction():
+        items, _ = _do_query(lib, query, album)
         if move and fields is not None and 'path' not in fields:
             # Special case: if an item needs to be moved, the path field has to
             # updated; otherwise the new path will not be reflected in the
             # database.
             fields.append('path')
-        items, _ = _do_query(lib, query, album)
+        if fields is None:
+            # no fields were provided, update all media fields
+            item_fields = fields or library.Item._media_fields
+            if move and 'path' not in item_fields:
+                # move is enabled, add 'path' to the list of fields to update
+                item_fields.add('path')
+        else:
+            # fields was provided, just update those
+            item_fields = fields
+        # get all the album fields to update
+        album_fields = fields or library.Album._fields.keys()
+        if exclude_fields:
+            # remove any excluded fields from the item and album sets
+            item_fields = [f for f in item_fields if f not in exclude_fields]
+            album_fields = [f for f in album_fields if f not in exclude_fields]
 
         # Walk through the items and pick up their changes.
         affected_albums = set()
@@ -1248,7 +1266,7 @@ def update_items(lib, query, album, move, pretend, fields):
             # Check for and display changes.
             changed = ui.show_model_changes(
                 item,
-                fields=fields or library.Item._media_fields)
+                fields=item_fields)
 
             # Save changes.
             if not pretend:
@@ -1257,14 +1275,14 @@ def update_items(lib, query, album, move, pretend, fields):
                     if move and lib.directory in ancestry(item.path):
                         item.move(store=False)
 
-                    item.store(fields=fields)
+                    item.store(fields=item_fields)
                     affected_albums.add(item.album_id)
                 else:
                     # The file's mtime was different, but there were no
                     # changes to the metadata. Store the new mtime,
                     # which is set in the call to read(), so we don't
                     # check this again in the future.
-                    item.store(fields=fields)
+                    item.store(fields=item_fields)
 
         # Skip album changes while pretending.
         if pretend:
@@ -1283,7 +1301,7 @@ def update_items(lib, query, album, move, pretend, fields):
             # Update album structure to reflect an item in it.
             for key in library.Album.item_keys:
                 album[key] = first_item[key]
-            album.store(fields=fields)
+            album.store(fields=album_fields)
 
             # Move album art (and any inconsistent items).
             if move and lib.directory in ancestry(first_item.path):
@@ -1293,9 +1311,9 @@ def update_items(lib, query, album, move, pretend, fields):
                 items = list(album.items())
                 for item in items:
                     item.move(store=False, with_album=False)
-                    item.store(fields=fields)
+                    item.store(fields=item_fields)
                 album.move(store=False)
-                album.store(fields=fields)
+                album.store(fields=album_fields)
 
 
 def update_func(lib, opts, args):
@@ -1306,7 +1324,7 @@ def update_func(lib, opts, args):
         if not ui.input_yn("Are you sure you want to continue (y/n)?", True):
             return
     update_items(lib, decargs(args), opts.album, ui.should_move(opts.move),
-                 opts.pretend, opts.fields)
+                 opts.pretend, opts.fields, opts.exclude_fields)
 
 
 update_cmd = ui.Subcommand(
@@ -1330,6 +1348,11 @@ update_cmd.parser.add_option(
     '-F', '--field', default=None, action='append', dest='fields',
     help='list of fields to update'
 )
+update_cmd.parser.add_option(
+    '-e', '--exclude-field', default=None, action='append',
+    dest='exclude_fields',
+    help='list of fields to exclude from updates'
+)
 update_cmd.func = update_func
 default_commands.append(update_cmd)
 
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 82c0aea3d..39e51ddcb 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ for Python 3.6).
 
 New features:
 
+* :ref:`update-cmd`: added ```-e``` flag for excluding fields from being updated.
 * :doc:`/plugins/deezer`: Import rank and other attributes from Deezer during import and add a function to update the rank of existing items.
   :bug:`4841`
 * resolve transl-tracklisting relations for pseudo releases and merge data with the actual release
diff --git a/docs/reference/cli.rst b/docs/reference/cli.rst
index 9306397a9..86c615dbb 100644
--- a/docs/reference/cli.rst
+++ b/docs/reference/cli.rst
@@ -329,7 +329,7 @@ update
 ``````
 ::
 
-    beet update [-F] FIELD [-aM] QUERY
+    beet update [-F] FIELD [-e] EXCLUDE_FIELD [-aM] QUERY
 
 Update the library (and, by default, move files) to reflect out-of-band metadata
 changes and file deletions.
@@ -347,8 +347,9 @@ 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```.
+flags (which can be used multiple times). Alternatively, specify fields to *not*
+write with ```-e``` 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
diff --git a/test/test_ui.py b/test/test_ui.py
index 9e0a67a0e..27d36c493 100644
--- a/test/test_ui.py
+++ b/test/test_ui.py
@@ -579,13 +579,13 @@ class UpdateTest(_common.TestCase):
         util.remove(artfile)
 
     def _update(self, query=(), album=False, move=False, reset_mtime=True,
-                fields=None):
+                fields=None, exclude_fields=None):
         self.io.addinput('y')
         if reset_mtime:
             self.i.mtime = 0
             self.i.store()
         commands.update_items(self.lib, query, album, move, False,
-                              fields=fields)
+                              fields=fields, exclude_fields=exclude_fields)
 
     def test_delete_removes_item(self):
         self.assertTrue(list(self.lib.items()))
@@ -729,6 +729,14 @@ class UpdateTest(_common.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(album.albumtype,  correct_albumtype)
         self.assertEqual(album.albumtypes, correct_albumtypes)
 
+    def test_modified_metadata_excluded(self):
+        mf = MediaFile(syspath(self.i.path))
+        mf.lyrics = 'new lyrics'
+        mf.save()
+        self._update(exclude_fields=['lyrics'])
+        item = self.lib.items().get()
+        self.assertNotEqual(item.lyrics, 'new lyrics')
+
 
 class PrintTest(_common.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):