diff --git a/cmd/helm/upgrade.go b/cmd/helm/upgrade.go
index 54badb32c..751a06da6 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/upgrade.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/upgrade.go
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@ func newUpgradeCmd(cfg *action.Configuration, out io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
 					instClient.ChartPathOptions = client.ChartPathOptions
 					instClient.DryRun = client.DryRun
 					instClient.DisableHooks = client.DisableHooks
+					instClient.SkipCRDs = client.SkipCRDs
 					instClient.Timeout = client.Timeout
 					instClient.Wait = client.Wait
 					instClient.Devel = client.Devel
@@ -165,6 +166,7 @@ func newUpgradeCmd(cfg *action.Configuration, out io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
 	f.MarkDeprecated("recreate-pods", "functionality will no longer be updated. Consult the documentation for other methods to recreate pods")
 	f.BoolVar(&client.Force, "force", false, "force resource updates through a replacement strategy")
 	f.BoolVar(&client.DisableHooks, "no-hooks", false, "disable pre/post upgrade hooks")
+	f.BoolVar(&client.SkipCRDs, "skip-crds", false, "if set, no CRDs will be installed when an upgrade is performed with install flag enabled. By default, CRDs are installed if not already present, when an upgrade is performed with install flag enabled")
 	f.DurationVar(&client.Timeout, "timeout", 300*time.Second, "time to wait for any individual Kubernetes operation (like Jobs for hooks)")
 	f.BoolVar(&client.ResetValues, "reset-values", false, "when upgrading, reset the values to the ones built into the chart")
 	f.BoolVar(&client.ReuseValues, "reuse-values", false, "when upgrading, reuse the last release's values and merge in any overrides from the command line via --set and -f. If '--reset-values' is specified, this is ignored")
diff --git a/pkg/action/upgrade.go b/pkg/action/upgrade.go
index 825920793..6045ef967 100644
--- a/pkg/action/upgrade.go
+++ b/pkg/action/upgrade.go
@@ -42,9 +42,11 @@ type Upgrade struct {
 
 	ChartPathOptions
 
-	Install      bool
-	Devel        bool
-	Namespace    string
+	Install   bool
+	Devel     bool
+	Namespace string
+	// SkipCRDs skip installing CRDs when install flag is enabled during upgrade
+	SkipCRDs     bool
 	Timeout      time.Duration
 	Wait         bool
 	DisableHooks bool