diff --git a/Manual.md b/Manual.md
index 0bcf0ccef91..b08c06d9fdb 100644
--- a/Manual.md
+++ b/Manual.md
@@ -451,7 +451,9 @@ matches a version number enclosed in `<b>...</b>` tags.
 
 - `update_ignore` is a space-separated list of shell globs that match
 version numbers which are not taken into account for checking newer
-versions.  Example: `update_ignore="*b*"` 
+versions.  Example: `update_ignore="*b*"`
+
+You can run such a check using `./xbps-src update-check <pkgname>`.
 
 ### build style scripts
 
diff --git a/common/xbps-src/shutils/update_check.sh b/common/xbps-src/shutils/update_check.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..cb6ef2d7cb5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/xbps-src/shutils/update_check.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+# vim: set ts=4 sw=4 et:
+
+update_check() {
+    local i p url rx found_version consider
+    export LC_ALL=C
+    : ${update_pkgname:=$pkgname}
+
+    if [ -z "$update_site" ]; then
+        printf '%s\n' "$homepage"
+        for i in $distfiles; do
+            printf '%s\n' "${i%/*}/"
+        done
+    else
+        printf '%s\n' "$update_site"
+    fi |
+    while IFS= read -r url; do
+        if [ -z "$update_site" ]; then
+            case "$url" in
+            *sourceforge.net/sourceforge*)
+                url="http://sourceforge.net/projects/$update_pkgname/rss?limit=200";;
+            *code.google.com*|*googlecode*)
+                url="http://code.google.com/p/$update_pkgname/downloads/list";;
+            *launchpad.net*)
+                url="https://launchpad.net/$update_pkgname/+download";;
+            *cpan.*)
+                update_pkgname=${update_pkgname#perl-};;
+            *pypi.python.org*)
+                update_pkgname=${update_pkgname#python-};;
+            *github.com*)
+                githubname="$(printf %s "$url" | cut -d/ -f4,5)"
+                url="https://api.github.com/repos/$githubname/tags"
+                rx='"name":\s*"(v|'"$update_pkgname"'-)?\K[^\d]*([\d\.]+)(?=")';;
+            esac
+        fi
+
+        rx=${update_pattern:-$rx}
+        rx=${rx:-'(?<!-)\b'"$update_pkgname"'[-_]?((src|source)[-_])?\K([^-/_\s]*?\d[^-/_\s]*?)(?=(?:[-_.](?:src|source|orig))?\.(?:[jt]ar|shar|t[bglx]z|tbz2|zip))\b'}
+
+        if [ -n "$XBPS_UPDATE_CHECK_VERBOSE" ]; then
+            echo "fetching $url" 1>&2
+        fi
+        curl -A "xbps-src-update-check/$XBPS_SRC_VERSION" --max-time 10 -Ls "$url" |
+            grep -Po -i "$rx"
+    done |
+    sort -Vu |
+    { 
+        grep . || echo "NO VERSION found for $pkgname" 1>&2
+    } |
+    while IFS= read -r found_version; do
+        if [ -n "$XBPS_UPDATE_CHECK_VERBOSE" ]; then
+            echo "found version $found_version"
+        fi
+        consider=true
+        p="$update_ignore "
+        while [ -n "$p" ]; do
+            i=${p%% *}
+            p=${p#* }
+            case "$found_version" in
+            $i)
+                consider=false
+                if [ -n "$XBPS_UPDATE_CHECK_VERBOSE" ]; then
+                    echo "ignored $found_version due to $i"
+                fi
+            esac
+        done
+        if $consider; then
+            xbps-uhelper cmpver "$pkgname-${version}_1" "$pkgname-${found_version}_1"
+            if [ $? = 255 ]; then
+                echo "NEWER VERSION $pkgname-$found_version (have $pkgname-${version})"
+            fi
+        fi
+    done
+}
diff --git a/xbps-src b/xbps-src
index 29abd3d14d2..b2561b439fa 100755
--- a/xbps-src
+++ b/xbps-src
@@ -95,6 +95,9 @@ update-bulk
 update-sys
     Rebuilds all packages in your system that are outdated and updates them.
 
+update-check <pkgname>
+    Check upstream site of <pkgname> for new releases.
+
 zap
     Removes a masterdir but preserving ccache, distcc and host directories.
 
@@ -638,6 +641,10 @@ case "$XBPS_TARGET" in
     update-sys)
         bulk_update -i
         ;;
+    update-check)
+        read_pkg
+        update_check
+        ;;
     zap)
         masterdir_zap
         ;;