diff --git a/cmd/helm/repo_update.go b/cmd/helm/repo_update.go
index 291b21b72..526300343 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/repo_update.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/repo_update.go
@@ -40,9 +40,10 @@ future releases.
 var errNoRepositories = errors.New("no repositories found. You must add one before updating")
 
 type repoUpdateCmd struct {
-	update func([]*repo.ChartRepository, io.Writer, helmpath.Home)
+	update func([]*repo.ChartRepository, io.Writer, helmpath.Home, bool) error
 	home   helmpath.Home
 	out    io.Writer
+	strict bool
 }
 
 func newRepoUpdateCmd(out io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
@@ -60,6 +61,10 @@ func newRepoUpdateCmd(out io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
 			return u.run()
 		},
 	}
+
+	f := cmd.Flags()
+	f.BoolVar(&u.strict, "strict", false, "fail on update warnings")
+
 	return cmd
 }
 
@@ -80,14 +85,15 @@ func (u *repoUpdateCmd) run() error {
 		}
 		repos = append(repos, r)
 	}
-
-	u.update(repos, u.out, u.home)
-	return nil
+	return u.update(repos, u.out, u.home, u.strict)
 }
 
-func updateCharts(repos []*repo.ChartRepository, out io.Writer, home helmpath.Home) {
+func updateCharts(repos []*repo.ChartRepository, out io.Writer, home helmpath.Home, strict bool) error {
 	fmt.Fprintln(out, "Hang tight while we grab the latest from your chart repositories...")
-	var wg sync.WaitGroup
+	var (
+		errorCounter int
+		wg           sync.WaitGroup
+	)
 	for _, re := range repos {
 		wg.Add(1)
 		go func(re *repo.ChartRepository) {
@@ -98,6 +104,7 @@ func updateCharts(repos []*repo.ChartRepository, out io.Writer, home helmpath.Ho
 			}
 			err := re.DownloadIndexFile(home.Cache())
 			if err != nil {
+				errorCounter++
 				fmt.Fprintf(out, "...Unable to get an update from the %q chart repository (%s):\n\t%s\n", re.Config.Name, re.Config.URL, err)
 			} else {
 				fmt.Fprintf(out, "...Successfully got an update from the %q chart repository\n", re.Config.Name)
@@ -105,5 +112,11 @@ func updateCharts(repos []*repo.ChartRepository, out io.Writer, home helmpath.Ho
 		}(re)
 	}
 	wg.Wait()
+
+	if errorCounter != 0 && strict {
+		return errors.New("Update Failed. Check log for details")
+	}
+
 	fmt.Fprintln(out, "Update Complete. ⎈ Happy Helming!⎈ ")
+	return nil
 }
diff --git a/cmd/helm/repo_update_test.go b/cmd/helm/repo_update_test.go
index 71dc87966..86af437c5 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/repo_update_test.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/repo_update_test.go
@@ -46,10 +46,11 @@ func TestUpdateCmd(t *testing.T) {
 	out := bytes.NewBuffer(nil)
 	// Instead of using the HTTP updater, we provide our own for this test.
 	// The TestUpdateCharts test verifies the HTTP behavior independently.
-	updater := func(repos []*repo.ChartRepository, out io.Writer, hh helmpath.Home) {
+	updater := func(repos []*repo.ChartRepository, out io.Writer, hh helmpath.Home, strict bool) error {
 		for _, re := range repos {
 			fmt.Fprintln(out, re.Config.Name)
 		}
+		return nil
 	}
 	uc := &repoUpdateCmd{
 		update: updater,
@@ -94,7 +95,7 @@ func TestUpdateCharts(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	b := bytes.NewBuffer(nil)
-	updateCharts([]*repo.ChartRepository{r}, b, hh)
+	updateCharts([]*repo.ChartRepository{r}, b, hh, false)
 
 	got := b.String()
 	if strings.Contains(got, "Unable to get an update") {