diff --git a/src/rebar_prv_upgrade.erl b/src/rebar_prv_upgrade.erl
index e1d6c6012..63ad951e3 100644
--- a/src/rebar_prv_upgrade.erl
+++ b/src/rebar_prv_upgrade.erl
@@ -32,12 +32,12 @@ init(State) ->
                                                    {deps, ?DEPS},
                                                    {example, "rebar3 upgrade [cowboy[,ranch]]"},
                                                    {short_desc, "Upgrade dependencies."},
-                                                   {desc, "Upgrade project dependencies. Mentioning no application "
-                                                          "will upgrade all dependencies. To upgrade specific dependencies, "
+                                                   {desc, "Upgrade project dependencies. Use the -a/--all option to "
+                                                          "upgrade all dependencies. To upgrade specific dependencies, "
                                                           "their names can be listed in the command."},
-                                                   {opts, [
+                                                   {opts, [{all, $a, "all", undefined, "Upgrade all dependencies."},
                                                           {package, undefined, undefined, string,
-                                                           "List of packages to upgrade. If not specified, all dependencies are upgraded."}
+                                                           "List of packages to upgrade."}
                                                           ]}])),
     {ok, State1}.
 
@@ -56,7 +56,6 @@ do(State) ->
     end.
 
 do_(State) ->
-    {Args, _} = rebar_state:command_parsed_args(State),
     Locks = rebar_state:get(State, {locks, default}, []),
     %% We have 3 sources of dependencies to upgrade from:
     %% 1. the top-level rebar.config (in `deps', dep name is an atom)
@@ -81,8 +80,12 @@ do_(State) ->
     ProfileDeps = rebar_state:get(State, {deps, default}, []),
     Deps = [Dep || Dep <- TopDeps ++ ProfileDeps, % TopDeps > ProfileDeps
                    is_atom(Dep) orelse is_atom(element(1, Dep))],
-    Names = parse_names(rebar_utils:to_binary(proplists:get_value(package, Args, <<"">>)), Locks),
-
+    Names = case handle_args(State) of
+        {false, undefined} -> throw(?PRV_ERROR(no_arg));
+        {true, _} -> [Name || {Name, _, 0} <- Locks];
+        {false, Packages} -> Bin = rebar_utils:to_binary(Packages),
+                             lists:usort(re:split(Bin, <<" *, *">>, [trim, unicode]))
+    end,
     DepsDict = deps_dict(rebar_state:all_deps(State)),
     AltDeps = find_non_default_deps(Deps, State),
     FilteredNames = cull_default_names_if_profiles(Names, Deps, State),
@@ -127,9 +130,17 @@ format_error({transitive_dependency, Name}) ->
 format_error({checkout_dependency, Name}) ->
     io_lib:format("Dependency ~ts is a checkout dependency under _checkouts/ and checkouts cannot be upgraded.",
                   [Name]);
+format_error(no_arg) -> 
+    "Specify a list of dependencies to upgrade, or --all to upgrade them all";
 format_error(Reason) ->
     io_lib:format("~p", [Reason]).
 
+handle_args(State) -> 
+    {Args, _} = rebar_state:command_parsed_args(State),
+    All = proplists:get_value(all, Args, false),
+    Package = proplists:get_value(package, Args),
+    {All, Package}.
+
 %% fetch updates for package deps that have been unlocked for upgrade
 update_pkg_deps([], _, _) ->
     ok;
@@ -160,15 +171,6 @@ update_package(Name, RepoConfig, State) ->
             ok
     end.
 
-parse_names(Bin, Locks) ->
-    case lists:usort(re:split(Bin, <<" *, *">>, [trim, unicode])) of
-        %% Nothing submitted, use *all* apps
-        [<<"">>] -> [Name || {Name, _, 0} <- Locks];
-        [] -> [Name || {Name, _, 0} <- Locks];
-        %% Regular options
-        Other -> Other
-    end.
-
 %% Find alternative deps in non-default profiles since they may
 %% need to be passed through (they are never locked)
 find_non_default_deps(Deps, State) ->
diff --git a/test/rebar_pkg_alias_SUITE.erl b/test/rebar_pkg_alias_SUITE.erl
index 1d31b2bd9..5ba544de7 100644
--- a/test/rebar_pkg_alias_SUITE.erl
+++ b/test/rebar_pkg_alias_SUITE.erl
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ diff_alias(Config) ->
     {ok, [{Vsn, LockData}|_]} = file:consult(Lockfile),
     %% So does an upgrade
     rebar_test_utils:run_and_check(
-        Config, RebarConfig, ["upgrade"],
+        Config, RebarConfig, ["upgrade", "--all"],
         {ok, [{lock, "fakelib"},{dep, "fakelib"}]}
     ),
     {ok, [{Vsn, LockData}|_]} = file:consult(Lockfile).
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ transitive_alias(Config) ->
     ?assertNot(filelib:is_dir(PkgName)),
     %% So does an upgrade
     rebar_test_utils:run_and_check(
-        Config, RebarConfig, ["upgrade"],
+        Config, RebarConfig, ["upgrade", "--all"],
         {ok, [{lock, "topdep"},{dep, "topdep"},
               {lock,"transitive_app"},{dep,"transitive_app"}]}
     ),
diff --git a/test/rebar_upgrade_SUITE.erl b/test/rebar_upgrade_SUITE.erl
index 54ff18c0b..f56c4cf2f 100644
--- a/test/rebar_upgrade_SUITE.erl
+++ b/test/rebar_upgrade_SUITE.erl
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 -include_lib("eunit/include/eunit.hrl").
 -compile(export_all).
 
-all() -> [{group, git}, {group, pkg}, novsn_pkg].
+all() -> [{group, git}, {group, pkg}, novsn_pkg, upgrade_no_args].
 
 groups() ->
     [{all, [], [top_a, top_b, top_c, top_d1, top_d2, top_e,
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@ init_per_testcase(novsn_pkg, Config0) ->
       end},
      {expected, {ok, [{dep, "fakeapp", "1.1.0"}, {lock, "fakeapp", "1.1.0"}]}}
      | Config];
+init_per_testcase(upgrade_no_args, Config0) ->
+    rebar_test_utils:init_rebar_state(Config0, "upgrade_no_args_");
 init_per_testcase(Case, Config) ->
     DepsType = ?config(deps_type, Config),
     {Deps, UpDeps, ToUp, Expectations} = upgrades(Case),
@@ -543,6 +545,9 @@ mock_deps(pkg, OldDeps, Deps, Upgrades) ->
     {_, PkgDeps} = rebar_test_utils:flat_deps(Deps++OldDeps),
     mock_pkg_resource:mock([{pkgdeps, PkgDeps}, {upgrade, Upgrades}]).
 
+normalize_unlocks({[], Locks}) ->
+    {"--all",
+     normalize_unlocks_expect(Locks)};
 normalize_unlocks({App, Locks}) ->
     {iolist_to_binary(App),
      normalize_unlocks_expect(Locks)};
@@ -646,7 +651,7 @@ compile_upgrade_parity(Config) ->
     Lockfile = filename:join([AppDir, "rebar.lock"]),
     rebar_test_utils:run_and_check(Config, RebarConfig, ["compile"], {ok, []}),
     {ok, CompileLockData1} = file:read_file(Lockfile),
-    rebar_test_utils:run_and_check(Config, RebarConfig, ["upgrade"], {ok, []}),
+    rebar_test_utils:run_and_check(Config, RebarConfig, ["upgrade", "--all"], {ok, []}),
     {ok, UpgradeLockData} = file:read_file(Lockfile),
     rebar_test_utils:run_and_check(Config, RebarConfig, ["compile"], {ok, []}),
     {ok, CompileLockData2} = file:read_file(Lockfile),
@@ -781,7 +786,7 @@ novsn_pkg(Config) ->
     Expectation = ?config(expected, Config),
     apply(?config(mock_update, Config), []),
     rebar_test_utils:run_and_check(
-        Config, RebarConfig, ["upgrade"], Expectation
+        Config, RebarConfig, ["upgrade", "--all"], Expectation
     ),
     ok.
 
@@ -808,3 +813,10 @@ rewrite_locks({ok, Expectations}, Config) ->
         end, [], Locks),
     ct:pal("rewriting locks from ~p to~n~p", [Locks, NewLocks]),
     file:write_file(LockFile, io_lib:format("~p.~n", [NewLocks])).
+
+upgrade_no_args(Config) ->
+    try rebar_test_utils:run_and_check(Config, [], ["upgrade"], return)
+    catch {error, {rebar_prv_upgrade, no_arg}} ->
+        ok
+    end,
+    ok.