diff --git a/cmd/helm/dependency_update.go b/cmd/helm/dependency_update.go
index cb6e9c0cc..7517caa93 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/dependency_update.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/dependency_update.go
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ func newDependencyUpdateCmd(cfg *action.Configuration, out io.Writer) *cobra.Com
 				RepositoryConfig: settings.RepositoryConfig,
 				RepositoryCache:  settings.RepositoryCache,
 				Debug:            settings.Debug,
+				Untar:            client.Untar,
 			}
 			if client.Verify {
 				man.Verify = downloader.VerifyAlways
@@ -78,6 +79,7 @@ func newDependencyUpdateCmd(cfg *action.Configuration, out io.Writer) *cobra.Com
 	f := cmd.Flags()
 	f.BoolVar(&client.Verify, "verify", false, "verify the packages against signatures")
 	f.StringVar(&client.Keyring, "keyring", defaultKeyring(), "keyring containing public keys")
+	f.BoolVar(&client.Untar, "untar", false, "if set to true, will untar the chart after downloading it")
 	f.BoolVar(&client.SkipRefresh, "skip-refresh", false, "do not refresh the local repository cache")
 
 	return cmd
diff --git a/cmd/helm/dependency_update_test.go b/cmd/helm/dependency_update_test.go
index 1a1e0468f..d42a9f7ec 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/dependency_update_test.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/dependency_update_test.go
@@ -145,6 +145,18 @@ func TestDependencyUpdateCmd(t *testing.T) {
 	if _, err := os.Stat(expect); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
+	// when use `--untar` flag, ./charts/*.tgz should not existed.
+	_, _, err = executeActionCommand(
+		fmt.Sprintf("dependency update '%s' --repository-config %s --repository-cache %s --untar", dir(chartname), dir("repositories.yaml"), dir()),
+	)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	// Make sure the actual file got downloaded,and untar it.
+	expect = dir(chartname, "charts/reqtest")
+	if _, err := os.Stat(expect); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
 }
 
 func TestDependencyUpdateCmd_DoNotDeleteOldChartsOnError(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/pkg/action/dependency.go b/pkg/action/dependency.go
index 3265f1f17..c9585a9bb 100644
--- a/pkg/action/dependency.go
+++ b/pkg/action/dependency.go
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ import (
 // It provides the implementation of 'helm dependency' and its respective subcommands.
 type Dependency struct {
 	Verify      bool
+	Untar       bool
 	Keyring     string
 	SkipRefresh bool
 	ColumnWidth uint
diff --git a/pkg/downloader/manager.go b/pkg/downloader/manager.go
index ec4056d27..8e8a91d16 100644
--- a/pkg/downloader/manager.go
+++ b/pkg/downloader/manager.go
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ type Manager struct {
 	RegistryClient   *registry.Client
 	RepositoryConfig string
 	RepositoryCache  string
+	Untar            bool
 }
 
 // Build rebuilds a local charts directory from a lockfile.
@@ -357,6 +358,11 @@ func (m *Manager) downloadAll(deps []*chart.Dependency) error {
 			break
 		}
 
+		if m.Untar {
+			chartutil.ExpandFile(m.ChartPath+"/charts/", destfile)
+			os.Remove(destfile)
+		}
+
 		churls[churl] = struct{}{}
 	}