diff --git a/check_api/src/main/java/com/google/errorprone/ErrorProneAnalyzer.java b/check_api/src/main/java/com/google/errorprone/ErrorProneAnalyzer.java
index 8bd05a94204b..d03c3d82f0a7 100644
--- a/check_api/src/main/java/com/google/errorprone/ErrorProneAnalyzer.java
+++ b/check_api/src/main/java/com/google/errorprone/ErrorProneAnalyzer.java
@@ -38,8 +38,11 @@
 import com.sun.tools.javac.util.Context;
 import com.sun.tools.javac.util.Log;
 import com.sun.tools.javac.util.PropagatedException;
+
+import java.net.URI;
 import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
 /** A {@link TaskListener} that runs Error Prone over attributed compilation units. */
 @Trusted
@@ -138,11 +141,15 @@ public void finished(TaskEvent taskEvent) {
         // We only get TaskEvents for compilation units if they contain no package declarations
         // (e.g. package-info.java files).  In this case it's safe to analyze the
         // CompilationUnitTree immediately.
-        transformer.get().apply(path, subContext, descriptionListener);
+        if (!isExcludedPath(compilation.getSourceFile().toUri())) {
+          transformer.get().apply(path, subContext, descriptionListener);
+        }
       } else if (finishedCompilation(path.getCompilationUnit())) {
         // Otherwise this TaskEvent is for a ClassTree, and we can scan the whole
         // CompilationUnitTree once we've seen all the enclosed classes.
-        transformer.get().apply(new TreePath(compilation), subContext, descriptionListener);
+        if (!isExcludedPath(compilation.getSourceFile().toUri())) {
+          transformer.get().apply(new TreePath(compilation), subContext, descriptionListener);
+        }
       }
     } catch (ErrorProneError e) {
       e.logFatalError(log);
@@ -160,6 +167,11 @@ public void finished(TaskEvent taskEvent) {
     }
   }
 
+  private boolean isExcludedPath(URI uri) {
+    Pattern excludedPattern = errorProneOptions.getExcludedPattern();
+    return (excludedPattern != null) && excludedPattern.matcher(uri.toString()).matches();
+  }
+
   /**
    * Returns true if all declarations inside the given compilation unit have been visited.
    */
diff --git a/check_api/src/main/java/com/google/errorprone/ErrorProneOptions.java b/check_api/src/main/java/com/google/errorprone/ErrorProneOptions.java
index e0dddaa10ddb..a041ad203b97 100644
--- a/check_api/src/main/java/com/google/errorprone/ErrorProneOptions.java
+++ b/check_api/src/main/java/com/google/errorprone/ErrorProneOptions.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 package com.google.errorprone;
 
 import com.google.auto.value.AutoValue;
+import com.google.common.base.Joiner;
 import com.google.common.base.Optional;
 import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
 import com.google.common.base.Splitter;
@@ -25,6 +26,7 @@
 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableMap;
 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableSet;
 import com.google.errorprone.apply.ImportOrganizer;
+
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.io.ObjectInputStream;
@@ -33,8 +35,10 @@
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.LinkedHashSet;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
 /**
  * Processes command-line options specific to error-prone.
@@ -55,6 +59,7 @@ public class ErrorProneOptions {
   private static final String IGNORE_UNKNOWN_CHECKS_FLAG = "-XepIgnoreUnknownCheckNames";
   private static final String DISABLE_WARNINGS_IN_GENERATED_CODE_FLAG =
       "-XepDisableWarningsInGeneratedCode";
+  private static final String EXCLUDED_PATHS_PREFIX = "-XepExcludedPaths:";
 
   /**
    * see {@link javax.tools.OptionChecker#isSupportedOption(String)}
@@ -64,6 +69,7 @@ public static int isSupportedOption(String option) {
         option.startsWith(CUSTOM_ENABLEMENT_PREFIX)
             || option.startsWith(PATCH_OUTPUT_LOCATION)
             || option.startsWith(PATCH_CHECKS_PREFIX)
+            || option.startsWith(EXCLUDED_PATHS_PREFIX)
             || option.equals(IGNORE_UNKNOWN_CHECKS_FLAG)
             || option.equals(DISABLE_WARNINGS_IN_GENERATED_CODE_FLAG)
             || option.equals(ERRORS_AS_WARNINGS_FLAG)
@@ -154,6 +160,7 @@ final PatchingOptions build() {
   private final boolean enableAllChecksAsWarnings;
   private final boolean disableAllChecks;
   private final PatchingOptions patchingOptions;
+  private final Pattern excludedPattern;
 
   private ErrorProneOptions(
       ImmutableMap<String, Severity> severityMap,
@@ -163,7 +170,8 @@ private ErrorProneOptions(
       boolean dropErrorsToWarnings,
       boolean enableAllChecksAsWarnings,
       boolean disableAllChecks,
-      PatchingOptions patchingOptions) {
+      PatchingOptions patchingOptions,
+      Pattern excludedPattern) {
     this.severityMap = severityMap;
     this.remainingArgs = remainingArgs;
     this.ignoreUnknownChecks = ignoreUnknownChecks;
@@ -172,6 +180,7 @@ private ErrorProneOptions(
     this.enableAllChecksAsWarnings = enableAllChecksAsWarnings;
     this.disableAllChecks = disableAllChecks;
     this.patchingOptions = patchingOptions;
+    this.excludedPattern = excludedPattern;
   }
 
   public String[] getRemainingArgs() {
@@ -198,6 +207,10 @@ public PatchingOptions patchingOptions() {
     return patchingOptions;
   }
 
+  public Pattern getExcludedPattern() {
+    return excludedPattern;
+  }
+
   private static class Builder {
     private boolean ignoreUnknownChecks = false;
     private boolean disableWarningsInGeneratedCode = false;
@@ -206,6 +219,7 @@ private static class Builder {
     private boolean disableAllChecks = false;
     private Map<String, Severity> severityMap = new HashMap<>();
     private final PatchingOptions.Builder patchingOptionsBuilder = PatchingOptions.builder();
+    private Pattern excludedPattern;
 
     public void setIgnoreUnknownChecks(boolean ignoreUnknownChecks) {
       this.ignoreUnknownChecks = ignoreUnknownChecks;
@@ -257,7 +271,12 @@ public ErrorProneOptions build(ImmutableList<String> outputArgs) {
           dropErrorsToWarnings,
           enableAllChecksAsWarnings,
           disableAllChecks,
-          patchingOptionsBuilder.build());
+          patchingOptionsBuilder.build(),
+          excludedPattern);
+    }
+
+    public void setExcludedPattern(Pattern excludedPattern) {
+      this.excludedPattern = excludedPattern;
     }
   }
 
@@ -342,6 +361,10 @@ public static ErrorProneOptions processArgs(Iterable<String> args) {
             String remaining = arg.substring(PATCH_IMPORT_ORDER_PREFIX.length());
             ImportOrganizer importOrganizer = ImportOrderParser.getImportOrganizer(remaining);
             builder.patchingOptionsBuilder().importOrganizer(importOrganizer);
+          } else if (arg.startsWith(EXCLUDED_PATHS_PREFIX)) {
+            String remaining = arg.substring(EXCLUDED_PATHS_PREFIX.length());
+            Iterable<String> paths = Splitter.on(',').trimResults().split(remaining);
+            builder.setExcludedPattern(getExcludedPattern(paths));
           } else {
             outputArgs.add(arg);
           }
@@ -385,4 +408,16 @@ public static ErrorProneOptions processArgs(String[] args) {
     Preconditions.checkNotNull(args);
     return processArgs(Arrays.asList(args));
   }
+
+  private static Pattern getExcludedPattern(Iterable<String> excludeSubStrings) {
+    if (!excludeSubStrings.iterator().hasNext()) {
+      return null;
+    }
+    Set<String> escapedExcluded = new LinkedHashSet<>();
+    for (String str: excludeSubStrings) {
+      escapedExcluded.add(str.replace(".", "\\."));
+    }
+    String choiceRegexp = Joiner.on("|").join(escapedExcluded);
+    return Pattern.compile("(?:.*)(?:" + choiceRegexp + ")(?:.*)");
+  }
 }