diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/DefaultMaven.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/DefaultMaven.java
index 3fd3ef4fcd..fc77721f96 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/DefaultMaven.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/DefaultMaven.java
@@ -729,6 +729,7 @@ public class DefaultMaven
                 List<MavenProject> activeProjects = projectSorter.getSortedProjects();
 
                 activeProjects = trimSelectedProjects( activeProjects, projectDependencyGraph, request );
+                activeProjects = trimExcludedProjects( activeProjects,  request );
                 activeProjects = trimResumedProjects( activeProjects, request );
 
                 if ( activeProjects.size() != projectSorter.getSortedProjects().size() )
@@ -848,6 +849,59 @@ public class DefaultMaven
 
         return result;
     }
+    
+    private List<MavenProject> trimExcludedProjects( List<MavenProject> projects, MavenExecutionRequest request )
+        throws MavenExecutionException
+    {
+        List<MavenProject> result = projects;
+
+        if ( !request.getExcludedProjects().isEmpty() )
+        {
+            File reactorDirectory = null;
+
+            if ( request.getBaseDirectory() != null )
+            {
+                reactorDirectory = new File( request.getBaseDirectory() );
+            }
+
+            Collection<MavenProject> excludedProjects = new LinkedHashSet<MavenProject>( projects.size() );
+
+            for ( String selector : request.getExcludedProjects() )
+            {
+                MavenProject excludedProject = null;
+
+                for ( MavenProject project : projects )
+                {
+                    if ( isMatchingProject( project, selector, reactorDirectory ) )
+                    {
+                        excludedProject = project;
+                        break;
+                    }
+                }
+
+                if ( excludedProject != null )
+                {
+                    excludedProjects.add( excludedProject );
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    throw new MavenExecutionException( "Could not find the selected project in the reactor: "
+                        + selector, request.getPom() );
+                }
+            }
+
+            result = new ArrayList<MavenProject>( projects.size() );
+            for ( MavenProject project : projects )
+            {
+                if ( !excludedProjects.contains( project ) )
+                {
+                    result.add( project );
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        return result;
+    }
 
     private List<MavenProject> trimResumedProjects( List<MavenProject> projects, MavenExecutionRequest request )
         throws MavenExecutionException
diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/execution/DefaultMavenExecutionRequest.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/execution/DefaultMavenExecutionRequest.java
index ef769d9f46..9919a1e2be 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/execution/DefaultMavenExecutionRequest.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/execution/DefaultMavenExecutionRequest.java
@@ -101,6 +101,8 @@ public class DefaultMavenExecutionRequest
     private String reactorFailureBehavior = REACTOR_FAIL_FAST;
 
     private List<String> selectedProjects;
+    
+    private List<String> excludedProjects;
 
     private String resumeFrom;
 
@@ -258,6 +260,16 @@ public class DefaultMavenExecutionRequest
 
         return selectedProjects;
     }
+    
+    public List<String> getExcludedProjects()
+    {
+        if ( excludedProjects == null )
+        {
+            excludedProjects = new ArrayList<String>();
+        }
+
+        return excludedProjects;
+    }
 
     public String getResumeFrom()
     {
@@ -514,6 +526,20 @@ public class DefaultMavenExecutionRequest
         return this;
     }
 
+    public MavenExecutionRequest setExcludedProjects( List<String> excludedProjects )
+    {
+        if ( excludedProjects != null )
+        {
+            this.excludedProjects = new ArrayList<String>( excludedProjects );
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            this.excludedProjects = null;
+        }
+
+        return this;
+    }
+
     public MavenExecutionRequest setResumeFrom( String project )
     {
         this.resumeFrom = project;
diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/execution/MavenExecutionRequest.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/execution/MavenExecutionRequest.java
index a3160fe097..70b77e1481 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/execution/MavenExecutionRequest.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/execution/MavenExecutionRequest.java
@@ -145,6 +145,20 @@ public interface MavenExecutionRequest
 
     MavenExecutionRequest setSelectedProjects( List<String> projects );
     List<String> getSelectedProjects();
+    
+    /**
+     * 
+     * @param projects the projects to exclude
+     * @return this MavenExecutionRequest
+     * @since 3.2
+     */
+    MavenExecutionRequest setExcludedProjects( List<String> projects );
+    /**
+     * 
+     * @return the excluded projects, never {@code null}
+     * @since 3.2
+     */
+    List<String> getExcludedProjects();
 
     MavenExecutionRequest setResumeFrom( String project );
     String getResumeFrom();
diff --git a/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/MavenCli.java b/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/MavenCli.java
index 37a5884c40..c6d705c330 100644
--- a/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/MavenCli.java
+++ b/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/MavenCli.java
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
 import java.io.FileOutputStream;
 import java.io.PrintStream;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
-import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -976,14 +975,39 @@ public class MavenCli
 
         if ( commandLine.hasOption( CLIManager.PROJECT_LIST ) )
         {
-            String[] values = commandLine.getOptionValues( CLIManager.PROJECT_LIST );
-            List<String> projects = new ArrayList<String>();
-            for ( String value : values )
+            String[] projectOptionValues = commandLine.getOptionValues( CLIManager.PROJECT_LIST );
+            
+            List<String> inclProjects = new ArrayList<String>();
+            List<String> exclProjects = new ArrayList<String>();
+            
+            if ( projectOptionValues != null )
             {
-                String[] tmp = StringUtils.split( value, "," );
-                projects.addAll( Arrays.asList( tmp ) );
+                for ( String projectOptionValue : projectOptionValues )
+                {
+                    StringTokenizer projectTokens = new StringTokenizer( projectOptionValue, "," );
+
+                    while ( projectTokens.hasMoreTokens() )
+                    {
+                        String projectAction = projectTokens.nextToken().trim();
+
+                        if ( projectAction.startsWith( "-" ) || projectAction.startsWith( "!" ) )
+                        {
+                            exclProjects.add( projectAction.substring( 1 ) );
+                        }
+                        else if ( projectAction.startsWith( "+" ) )
+                        {
+                            inclProjects.add( projectAction.substring( 1 ) );
+                        }
+                        else
+                        {
+                            inclProjects.add( projectAction );
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
             }
-            request.setSelectedProjects( projects );
+            
+            request.setSelectedProjects( inclProjects );
+            request.setExcludedProjects( exclProjects );
         }
 
         if ( commandLine.hasOption( CLIManager.ALSO_MAKE )