diff --git a/data/bash-completion/fwupdtool b/data/bash-completion/fwupdtool
index 3109f2a1f..d1389d89a 100644
--- a/data/bash-completion/fwupdtool
+++ b/data/bash-completion/fwupdtool
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ _fwupdmgr_opts=(
 	'--allow-older'
 	'--force'
 	'--show-all-devices'
+	'--plugin-whitelist'
 )
 
 _show_modifiers()
diff --git a/src/fu-engine.c b/src/fu-engine.c
index bd3948e8c..8d0da7130 100644
--- a/src/fu-engine.c
+++ b/src/fu-engine.c
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 #include <gio/gio.h>
 #include <gio/gunixinputstream.h>
 #include <glib-object.h>
+#include <fnmatch.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <sys/utsname.h>
 
@@ -69,6 +70,7 @@ struct _FuEngine
 	guint			 coldplug_id;
 	guint			 coldplug_delay;
 	FuPluginList		*plugin_list;
+	GPtrArray		*plugin_filter;
 	GPtrArray		*supported_guids;
 	FuSmbios		*smbios;
 	FuHwids			*hwids;
@@ -2896,6 +2898,27 @@ fu_engine_is_plugin_name_blacklisted (FuEngine *self, const gchar *name)
 	return FALSE;
 }
 
+static gboolean
+fu_engine_is_plugin_name_whitelisted (FuEngine *self, const gchar *name)
+{
+	if (self->plugin_filter->len == 0)
+		return TRUE;
+	for (guint i = 0; i < self->plugin_filter->len; i++) {
+		const gchar *name_tmp = g_ptr_array_index (self->plugin_filter, i);
+		if (fnmatch (name_tmp, name, 0) == 0)
+			return TRUE;
+	}
+	return FALSE;
+}
+
+void
+fu_engine_add_plugin_filter (FuEngine *self, const gchar *plugin_glob)
+{
+	g_return_if_fail (FU_IS_ENGINE (self));
+	g_return_if_fail (plugin_glob != NULL);
+	g_ptr_array_add (self->plugin_filter, g_strdup (plugin_glob));
+}
+
 gboolean
 fu_engine_load_plugins (FuEngine *self, GError **error)
 {
@@ -2926,7 +2949,11 @@ fu_engine_load_plugins (FuEngine *self, GError **error)
 		if (name == NULL)
 			continue;
 		if (fu_engine_is_plugin_name_blacklisted (self, name)) {
-			g_debug ("%s is blacklisted", name);
+			g_debug ("plugin %s is blacklisted", name);
+			continue;
+		}
+		if (!fu_engine_is_plugin_name_whitelisted (self, name)) {
+			g_debug ("plugin %s is not whitelisted", name);
 			continue;
 		}
 
@@ -3373,6 +3400,7 @@ fu_engine_init (FuEngine *self)
 	self->plugin_list = fu_plugin_list_new ();
 	self->profile = as_profile_new ();
 	self->store = as_store_new ();
+	self->plugin_filter = g_ptr_array_new_with_free_func (g_free);
 	self->supported_guids = g_ptr_array_new_with_free_func (g_free);
 	self->runtime_versions = g_hash_table_new_full (g_str_hash, g_str_equal, g_free, g_free);
 	self->compile_versions = g_hash_table_new_full (g_str_hash, g_str_equal, g_free, g_free);
@@ -3424,6 +3452,7 @@ fu_engine_finalize (GObject *obj)
 	g_object_unref (self->store);
 	g_object_unref (self->device_list);
 	g_ptr_array_unref (self->supported_guids);
+	g_ptr_array_unref (self->plugin_filter);
 	g_hash_table_unref (self->runtime_versions);
 	g_hash_table_unref (self->compile_versions);
 
diff --git a/src/fu-engine.h b/src/fu-engine.h
index 1586d28b8..8a7982201 100644
--- a/src/fu-engine.h
+++ b/src/fu-engine.h
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ G_BEGIN_DECLS
 G_DECLARE_FINAL_TYPE (FuEngine, fu_engine, FU, ENGINE, GObject)
 
 FuEngine	*fu_engine_new				(FuAppFlags	 app_flags);
+void		 fu_engine_add_plugin_filter		(FuEngine	*self,
+							 const gchar	*plugin_glob);
 gboolean	 fu_engine_load				(FuEngine	*self,
 							 GError		**error);
 gboolean	 fu_engine_load_plugins			(FuEngine	*self,
diff --git a/src/fu-tool.c b/src/fu-tool.c
index 16c7a92e0..cceefb9e1 100644
--- a/src/fu-tool.c
+++ b/src/fu-tool.c
@@ -653,6 +653,7 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
 	gboolean force = FALSE;
 	gboolean ret;
 	gboolean verbose = FALSE;
+	g_auto(GStrv) plugin_glob = NULL;
 	g_autoptr(FuUtilPrivate) priv = g_new0 (FuUtilPrivate, 1);
 	g_autoptr(GError) error = NULL;
 	g_autofree gchar *cmd_descriptions = NULL;
@@ -672,6 +673,9 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
 		{ "show-all-devices", '\0', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &priv->show_all_devices,
 			/* TRANSLATORS: command line option */
 			_("Show devices that are not updatable"), NULL },
+		{ "plugin-whitelist", '\0', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING_ARRAY, &plugin_glob,
+			/* TRANSLATORS: command line option */
+			_("Manually whitelist specific plugins"), NULL },
 		{ NULL}
 	};
 
@@ -815,6 +819,10 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
 			  G_CALLBACK (fu_main_engine_percentage_changed_cb),
 			  priv);
 
+	/* any plugin whitelist specified */
+	for (guint i = 0; plugin_glob != NULL && plugin_glob[i] != NULL; i++)
+		fu_engine_add_plugin_filter (priv->engine, plugin_glob[i]);
+
 	/* run the specified command */
 	ret = fu_util_run (priv, argv[1], (gchar**) &argv[2], &error);
 	if (!ret) {