diff --git a/glanceclient/v1/images.py b/glanceclient/v1/images.py
index ad8b43a..5bee359 100644
--- a/glanceclient/v1/images.py
+++ b/glanceclient/v1/images.py
@@ -176,6 +176,15 @@ class ImageManager(base.Manager):
             else:
                 image_data = None
 
+        hdrs = {}
+
+        try:
+            purge_props = 'true' if kwargs.pop('purge_props') else 'false'
+        except KeyError:
+            pass
+        else:
+            hdrs['x-glance-registry-purge-props'] = purge_props
+
         fields = {}
         for field in kwargs:
             if field in UPDATE_PARAMS:
@@ -185,7 +194,7 @@ class ImageManager(base.Manager):
                 raise TypeError(msg % field)
 
         copy_from = fields.pop('copy_from', None)
-        hdrs = self._image_meta_to_headers(fields)
+        hdrs.update(self._image_meta_to_headers(fields))
         if copy_from is not None:
             hdrs['x-glance-api-copy-from'] = copy_from
 
diff --git a/glanceclient/v1/shell.py b/glanceclient/v1/shell.py
index b428975..fdd8d80 100644
--- a/glanceclient/v1/shell.py
+++ b/glanceclient/v1/shell.py
@@ -170,6 +170,10 @@ def do_image_create(gc, args):
 @utils.arg('--property', metavar="<key=value>", action='append', default=[],
            help=("Arbitrary property to associate with image. "
                  "May be used multiple times."))
+@utils.arg('--purge-props', action='store_true', default=False,
+           help=("If this flag is present, delete all image properties "
+                 "not explicitly set in the update request. Otherwise, "
+                 "those properties not referenced are preserved."))
 def do_image_update(gc, args):
     # Filter out None values
     fields = dict(filter(lambda x: x[1] is not None, vars(args).items()))
@@ -192,7 +196,7 @@ def do_image_update(gc, args):
         else:
             fields['data'] = sys.stdin
 
-    image = gc.images.update(image_id, **fields)
+    image = gc.images.update(image_id, purge_props=args.purge_props, **fields)
     _image_show(image)
 
 
diff --git a/tests/v1/test_images.py b/tests/v1/test_images.py
index fe90fdd..b3fe128 100644
--- a/tests/v1/test_images.py
+++ b/tests/v1/test_images.py
@@ -224,6 +224,12 @@ class ImageManagerTest(unittest.TestCase):
         expect = [('PUT', '/v1/images/1', expect_headers, image_data)]
         self.assertEqual(self.api.calls, expect)
 
+    def test_update_with_purge_props(self):
+        self.mgr.update('1', purge_props=True)
+        expect_headers = {'x-glance-registry-purge-props': 'true'}
+        expect = [('PUT', '/v1/images/1', expect_headers, None)]
+        self.assertEqual(self.api.calls, expect)
+
 
 class ImageTest(unittest.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):