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 530f229d1c..1453d6d12c 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/DefaultMaven.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/DefaultMaven.java
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ public class DefaultMaven
 
             try
             {
-                projects = collectProjects( request.getFiles(), request.getLocalRepository() );
+                projects = collectProjects( request.getFiles(), request.getLocalRepository(), request.isRecursive() );
 
                 projects = projectBuilder.getSortedProjects( projects );
 
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ public class DefaultMaven
         }
     }
 
-    private List collectProjects( List files, ArtifactRepository localRepository )
+    private List collectProjects( List files, ArtifactRepository localRepository, boolean recursive )
         throws ProjectBuildingException, ReactorException, IOException
     {
         List projects = new ArrayList( files.size() );
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ public class DefaultMaven
 
             MavenProject project = getProject( file, localRepository );
 
-            if ( project.getModules() != null && !project.getModules().isEmpty() )
+            if ( project.getModules() != null && !project.getModules().isEmpty() && recursive )
             {
                 project.setPackaging( "pom" );
 
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ public class DefaultMaven
                 }
 
                 List moduleFiles = FileUtils.getFiles( project.getFile().getParentFile(), includes, null );
-                List collectedProjects = collectProjects( moduleFiles, localRepository );
+                List collectedProjects = collectProjects( moduleFiles, localRepository, recursive );
                 projects.addAll( collectedProjects );
                 project.setCollectedProjects( collectedProjects );
             }
diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/MavenCli.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/MavenCli.java
index f008e8eda1..d8f5fc49b0 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/MavenCli.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/MavenCli.java
@@ -133,11 +133,11 @@ public class MavenCli
         embedder.start( classWorld );
 
         UserModelBuilder userModelBuilder = (UserModelBuilder) embedder.lookup( UserModelBuilder.ROLE );
-        
+
         UserModel userModel = userModelBuilder.buildUserModel();
-        
-        ArtifactRepositoryFactory artifactRepositoryFactory = (ArtifactRepositoryFactory) embedder
-                                                                                                  .lookup( ArtifactRepositoryFactory.ROLE );
+
+        ArtifactRepositoryFactory artifactRepositoryFactory = (ArtifactRepositoryFactory) embedder.lookup(
+            ArtifactRepositoryFactory.ROLE );
 
         ArtifactRepository localRepository = getLocalRepository( userModel, artifactRepositoryFactory );
 
@@ -162,6 +162,11 @@ public class MavenCli
             }
             request = new DefaultMavenExecutionRequest( localRepository, userModel, eventDispatcher,
                                                         commandLine.getArgList(), files, userDir.getPath() );
+
+            if ( commandLine.hasOption( CLIManager.NON_RECURSIVE ) )
+            {
+                request.setRecursive( false );
+            }
         }
 
         LoggerManager manager = (LoggerManager) embedder.lookup( LoggerManager.ROLE );
@@ -271,6 +276,8 @@ public class MavenCli
 
         private Options options = null;
 
+        public static final char NON_RECURSIVE = 'N';
+
         public CLIManager()
         {
             options = new Options();
@@ -292,6 +299,8 @@ public class MavenCli
                 DEBUG ) );
             options.addOption( OptionBuilder.withLongOpt( "reactor" ).withDescription(
                 "Execute goals for project found in the reactor" ).create( REACTOR ) );
+            options.addOption( OptionBuilder.withLongOpt( "non-recursive" ).withDescription(
+                "Do not recurse into sub-projects" ).create( NON_RECURSIVE ) );
         }
 
         public CommandLine parse( String[] args )
@@ -360,7 +369,7 @@ public class MavenCli
 
 // TODO [BP]: this should not be necessary - grep for and remove
         System.setProperty( MavenConstants.MAVEN_REPO_LOCAL, localRepository );
-        
+
         Repository repo = new Repository();
 
         repo.setId( "local" );
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 b88ae4db9e..a6c9b1f701 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
@@ -51,6 +51,8 @@ public class DefaultMavenExecutionRequest
 
     private final String baseDirectory;
 
+    private boolean recursive = true;
+
     public DefaultMavenExecutionRequest( ArtifactRepository localRepository, UserModel userModel,
                                          EventDispatcher eventDispatcher, List goals, List files, String baseDirectory )
     {
@@ -77,6 +79,16 @@ public class DefaultMavenExecutionRequest
         return baseDirectory;
     }
 
+    public boolean isRecursive()
+    {
+        return recursive;
+    }
+
+    public void setRecursive( boolean recursive )
+    {
+        this.recursive = false;
+    }
+
     public ArtifactRepository getLocalRepository()
     {
         return localRepository;
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 31bfe596de..bc038eca1b 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
@@ -52,4 +52,8 @@ public interface MavenExecutionRequest
     UserModel getUserModel();
 
     String getBaseDirectory();
+
+    void setRecursive( boolean recursive );
+
+    boolean isRecursive();
 }