diff --git a/Manual.md b/Manual.md
index bbe6d869c61..0a68f088f6a 100644
--- a/Manual.md
+++ b/Manual.md
@@ -905,6 +905,10 @@ in url. Defaults to `(|v|$pkgname)[-_.]*`.
 part that follows numeric part of version directory
 in url. Defaults to `(|\.x)`.
 
+- `disabled` can be set to disable update checking for the package,
+in cases where checking for updates is impossible or does not make sense.
+This should be set to a string describing why it is disabled.
+
 <a id="patches"></a>
 ### Handling patches
 
diff --git a/common/xbps-src/shutils/update_check.sh b/common/xbps-src/shutils/update_check.sh
index e656cf06fbc..88276410057 100644
--- a/common/xbps-src/shutils/update_check.sh
+++ b/common/xbps-src/shutils/update_check.sh
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@ update_check() {
         if [ "$XBPS_UPDATE_CHECK_VERBOSE" ]; then
             echo "using $XBPS_TARGET_PKG/update overrides" 1>&2
         fi
+        if [ -n "$disabled" ]; then
+            echo "update-check DISABLED for $original_pkgname: $disabled" 1>&2
+        fi
     elif [ -z "$distfiles" ]; then
         if [ "$XBPS_UPDATE_CHECK_VERBOSE" ]; then
             echo "NO DISTFILES found for $original_pkgname" 1>&2