diff --git a/README b/README
index 88e35c5..1f1f1c8 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@ order to automate this, you may want to add this line to your
 Bash shell.  Since dotfiles are not expected to change rapidly, the
 ``update`` command remembers the last time it ran and only actually
 performs the update if it has been at least a week since the last
-update.
+update. To ignore this weekly timer, pass the ``--ignore-timer`` flag to
+``update``.
 
 If you're using Git, you may have a choice of transport protocols for
 accessing the central repository.  Some protocols (e.g. SSH) often
diff --git a/dotfiles.sh b/dotfiles.sh
index 5f0c5e5..fd225d5 100755
--- a/dotfiles.sh
+++ b/dotfiles.sh
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ VERSION='0.4'
 DOTFILES_DIR="${PWD}"
 TARGET=~
 CHECK_WGET_TYPE_AND_ENCODING='no'
+IGNORE_TIMER='no'
 
 #####
 # External utilities
@@ -772,7 +773,13 @@ function update()
 {
 	LINK_OPTS=''
 	while [ "${1::2}" = '--' ]; do
-		LINK_OPTS="${LINK_FN_OPTS} ${1}"
+			case "${1}" in
+				'--ignore-timer')
+					IGNORE_TIMER='yes'
+					;;
+				*)
+					LINK_OPTS="${LINK_FN_OPTS} ${1}"
+		esac
 		shift
 	done
 	# multi-repo case handled in main() by run_on_all_repos()
@@ -783,7 +790,7 @@ function update()
 	# touching this file.
 	UPDATE_FILE="${REPO}/updated.$(date +%U)"
 
-	if [ ! -e "${UPDATE_FILE}" ]; then
+	if [ ! -e "${UPDATE_FILE}" ] || [ "${IGNORE_TIMER}" = 'yes' ]; then
 		echo "update ${REPO} dotfiles"
 		"${RM}" -f "${REPO}"/updated.* || return 1
 		"${TOUCH}" "${UPDATE_FILE}" || return 1