diff --git a/Documentation/config.txt b/Documentation/config.txt
index d8e696f4cd..f5c846f410 100644
--- a/Documentation/config.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config.txt
@@ -439,10 +439,6 @@ pull.octopus::
 pull.twohead::
 	The default merge strategy to use when pulling a single branch.
 
-remote.fetch::
-	The list of remotes which are fetched by "git remote update".
-	See gitlink:git-remote[1].
-
 remote.<name>.url::
 	The URL of a remote repository.  See gitlink:git-fetch[1] or
 	gitlink:git-push[1].
@@ -455,6 +451,10 @@ remote.<name>.push::
 	The default set of "refspec" for gitlink:git-push[1]. See
 	gitlink:git-push[1].
 
+remote.<name>.skipDefaultUpdate::
+	If true, this remote will be skipped by default when updating
+	using the remote subcommand of gitlink:git-remote[1].
+
 remote.<name>.receivepack::
 	The default program to execute on the remote side when pushing.  See
 	option \--exec of gitlink:git-push[1].
@@ -463,6 +463,10 @@ remote.<name>.uploadpack::
 	The default program to execute on the remote side when fetching.  See
 	option \--exec of gitlink:git-fetch-pack[1].
 
+remotes.<group>::
+	The list of remotes which are fetched by "git remote update
+	<group>".  See gitlink:git-remote[1].
+
 repack.usedeltabaseoffset::
 	Allow gitlink:git-repack[1] to create packs that uses
 	delta-base offset.  Defaults to false.
diff --git a/Documentation/git-remote.txt b/Documentation/git-remote.txt
index 06ba2e6f26..250761f97e 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-remote.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-remote.txt
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ SYNOPSIS
 'git-remote' add <name> <url>
 'git-remote' show <name>
 'git-remote' prune <name>
-'git-remote' update
+'git-remote' update [group]
 
 DESCRIPTION
 -----------
@@ -46,9 +46,12 @@ referenced by <name>, but are still locally available in
 
 'update'::
 
-Fetch updates for the remotes in the repository.  By default all remotes
-are updated, but this can be configured via the configuration parameter
-'remote.fetch'.   (See gitlink:git-config[1]).
+Fetch updates for a named set of remotes in the repository as defined by
+remotes.<group>.  If a named group is not specified on the command line,
+the configuration parameter remotes.default will get used; if
+remotes.default is not defined, all remotes which do not the
+configuration parameter remote.<name>.skipDefaultUpdate set to true will
+be updated.  (See gitlink:git-config[1]).
 
 
 DISCUSSION
diff --git a/git-remote.perl b/git-remote.perl
index 6e473ecfd0..61244e9782 100755
--- a/git-remote.perl
+++ b/git-remote.perl
@@ -274,6 +274,31 @@ sub add_remote {
 	}
 }
 
+sub update_remote {
+	my ($name) = @_;
+
+        my $conf = $git->config("remotes." . $name);
+	if (defined($conf)) {
+		@remotes = split(' ', $conf);
+	} elsif ($name eq 'default') {
+		undef @remotes;
+		for (sort keys %$remote) {
+			my $do_fetch = $git->config_boolean("remote." . $_ .
+						    ".skipDefaultUpdate");
+			if (!defined($do_fetch) || $do_fetch ne "true") {
+				push @remotes, $_;
+			}
+		}
+	} else {
+		print STDERR "Remote group $name does not exists.\n";
+		exit(1);
+	}
+	for (@remotes) {
+		print "Updating $_\n";
+		$git->command('fetch', "$_");
+	}
+}
+
 sub add_usage {
 	print STDERR "Usage: git remote add [-f] [-t track]* [-m master] <name> <url>\n";
 	exit(1);
@@ -304,15 +329,12 @@ elsif ($ARGV[0] eq 'show') {
 	}
 }
 elsif ($ARGV[0] eq 'update') {
-        my $conf = $git->config("remote.fetch");
-	if (defined($conf)) {
-		@remotes = split(' ', $conf);
-	} else {
-	        @remotes = sort keys %$remote;
+	if (@ARGV <= 1) {
+		update_remote("default");
+		exit(1);
 	}
-	for (@remotes) {
-		print "Fetching $_\n";
-		$git->command('fetch', "$_");
+	for ($i = 1; $i < @ARGV; $i++) {
+		update_remote($ARGV[$i]);
 	}
 }
 elsif ($ARGV[0] eq 'prune') {
@@ -372,6 +394,6 @@ else {
 	print STDERR "       git remote add <name> <url>\n";
 	print STDERR "       git remote show <name>\n";
 	print STDERR "       git remote prune <name>\n";
-	print STDERR "       git remote update\n";
+	print STDERR "       git remote update [group]\n";
 	exit(1);
 }