diff --git a/doc/guix.texi b/doc/guix.texi
index c54a72bfaa..33528e997e 100644
--- a/doc/guix.texi
+++ b/doc/guix.texi
@@ -14358,6 +14358,36 @@ Invoking guix refresh
 
 @xref{Creating a Channel}, on how to create a channel.
 
+This command updates the version and source code hash of the package.
+Depending on the updater being used, it can also update the various
+@samp{inputs} fields of the package.  In some cases, the updater might
+get inputs wrong---it might not know about an extra input that's
+necessary, or it might add an input that should be avoided.
+
+@cindex @code{updater-extra-inputs}, package property
+@cindex @code{updater-ignored-inputs}, package property
+To address that, packagers can add properties stating inputs that should
+be added to those found by the updater or inputs that should be ignored:
+the @code{updater-extra-inputs} and @code{updater-ignored-inputs}
+properties pertain to ``regular'' inputs, and there are equivalent
+properties for @samp{native} and @samp{propagated} inputs.  In the
+example below, we tell the updater that we need @samp{openmpi} as an
+additional input:
+
+@lisp
+(define-public python-mpi4py
+  (package
+    (name "python-mpi4py")
+    ;; @dots{}
+    (inputs (list openmpi))
+    (properties
+     '((updater-extra-inputs . ("openmpi"))))))
+@end lisp
+
+That way, @command{guix refresh -u python-mpi4py} will leave the
+@samp{openmpi} input, even if it is not among the inputs it would
+normally add.
+
 @item --select=[@var{subset}]
 @itemx -s @var{subset}
 Select all the packages in @var{subset}, one of @code{core}, @code{non-core}
diff --git a/guix/upstream.scm b/guix/upstream.scm
index 53e473715c..33248d645c 100644
--- a/guix/upstream.scm
+++ b/guix/upstream.scm
@@ -557,11 +557,44 @@ (define (update-package-inputs package source)
                    (G_ "~a: expected '~a' value: ~s~%")
                    (package-name package) field new))))
 
+  (define (filtered-inputs source-inputs extra-property ignore-property)
+    ;; Return a procedure that behaves like SOURCE-INPUTS but additionally
+    ;; honors EXTRA-PROPERTY and IGNORE-PROPERTY from PACKAGE.
+    (lambda (source)
+      (let* ((inputs (source-inputs source))
+             (properties (package-properties package))
+             (ignore (or (assoc-ref properties ignore-property) '()))
+             (extra (or (assoc-ref properties extra-property) '())))
+        (append (if (null? ignore)
+                    inputs
+                    (remove (lambda (input)
+                              (member (upstream-input-downstream-name input)
+                                      ignore))
+                            inputs))
+                (map (lambda (name)
+                       (upstream-input
+                        (name name)
+                        (downstream-name name)))
+                     extra)))))
+
+  (define regular-inputs
+    (filtered-inputs upstream-source-regular-inputs
+                     'updater-extra-inputs
+                     'updater-ignored-inputs))
+  (define native-inputs
+    (filtered-inputs upstream-source-native-inputs
+                     'updater-extra-native-inputs
+                     'updater-ignored-native-inputs))
+  (define propagated-inputs
+    (filtered-inputs upstream-source-propagated-inputs
+                     'updater-extra-propagated-inputs
+                     'updater-ignored-propagated-inputs))
+
   (for-each update-field
             '(inputs native-inputs propagated-inputs)
-            (list upstream-source-regular-inputs
-                  upstream-source-native-inputs
-                  upstream-source-propagated-inputs)
+            (list regular-inputs
+                  native-inputs
+                  propagated-inputs)
             (list package-inputs
                   package-native-inputs
                   package-propagated-inputs)))
diff --git a/tests/guix-refresh.sh b/tests/guix-refresh.sh
index 9d7a57a36e..51d34c4b51 100644
--- a/tests/guix-refresh.sh
+++ b/tests/guix-refresh.sh
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ GUIX_TEST_UPDATER_TARGETS='
    ("libreoffice" "" (("1.0" "file:///dev/null")))
    ("idutils" "" (("'$idutils_version'" "file:///dev/null")))
    ("the-test-package" "" (("5.5" "file://'$PWD/$module_dir'/source"
-                                   ("grep" "sed")))))'
+                                   ("grep" "sed" "libreoffice")))))'
 
 # No newer version available.
 guix refresh -t test idutils	# XXX: should return non-zero?
@@ -93,7 +93,8 @@ cat > "$module_dir/sample.scm"<<EOF
               (sha256
                (base32
                 "086vqwk2wl8zfs47sq2xpjc9k066ilmb8z6dn0q6ymwjzlm196cd"))))
-    (inputs (list coreutils tar))))
+    (inputs (list coreutils tar))
+    (properties '((updater-ignored-inputs . ("libreoffice"))))))
 EOF
 guix refresh -t test -L "$module_dir" the-test-package
 guix refresh -t test -L "$module_dir" the-test-package -u \
