diff --git a/ivy/src/main/scala/sbt/librarymanagement/ivy/UpdateOptions.scala b/ivy/src/main/scala/sbt/librarymanagement/ivy/UpdateOptions.scala
index f09436e6..6f12ba05 100644
--- a/ivy/src/main/scala/sbt/librarymanagement/ivy/UpdateOptions.scala
+++ b/ivy/src/main/scala/sbt/librarymanagement/ivy/UpdateOptions.scala
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ object UpdateOptions {
       interProjectFirst = true,
       latestSnapshots = true,
       cachedResolution = false,
-      gigahorse = true,
+      gigahorse = sys.props.get("sbt.gigahorse") map { _.toLowerCase == "true" } getOrElse true,
       resolverConverter = PartialFunction.empty,
       moduleResolvers = Map.empty
     )