diff --git a/src/Composer/Command/OutdatedCommand.php b/src/Composer/Command/OutdatedCommand.php
index b3cf566df..6c535e150 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Command/OutdatedCommand.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Command/OutdatedCommand.php
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ class OutdatedCommand extends ShowCommand
                 new InputOption('outdated', 'o', InputOption::VALUE_NONE, 'Show only packages that are outdated (this is the default, but present here for compat with `show`'),
                 new InputOption('all', 'a', InputOption::VALUE_NONE, 'Show all installed packages with their latest versions'),
                 new InputOption('direct', 'D', InputOption::VALUE_NONE, 'Shows only packages that are directly required by the root package'),
+                new InputOption('strict', null, InputOption::VALUE_NONE, 'Return a non-zero exit code when there are outdated packages'),
             ))
             ->setHelp(<<<EOT
 The outdated command is just a proxy for `composer show -l`
@@ -66,6 +67,9 @@ EOT
         if ($input->getArgument('package')) {
             $args['package'] = $input->getArgument('package');
         }
+        if ($input->getOption('strict')) {
+            $args['--strict'] = true;
+        }
 
         $input = new ArrayInput($args);
 
diff --git a/src/Composer/Command/ShowCommand.php b/src/Composer/Command/ShowCommand.php
index 6555c8be4..a6826d641 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Command/ShowCommand.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Command/ShowCommand.php
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ class ShowCommand extends BaseCommand
                 new InputOption('outdated', 'o', InputOption::VALUE_NONE, 'Show the latest version but only for packages that are outdated'),
                 new InputOption('minor-only', 'm', InputOption::VALUE_NONE, 'Show only packages that have minor SemVer-compatible updates. Use with the --outdated option.'),
                 new InputOption('direct', 'D', InputOption::VALUE_NONE, 'Shows only packages that are directly required by the root package'),
+                new InputOption('strict', null, InputOption::VALUE_NONE, 'Return a non-zero exit code when there are outdated packages'),
             ))
             ->setHelp(<<<EOT
 The show command displays detailed information about a package, or
@@ -310,6 +311,7 @@ EOT
                 $writeVersion = !$input->getOption('name-only') && !$input->getOption('path') && $showVersion && ($nameLength + $versionLength + 3 <= $width);
                 $writeLatest = $writeVersion && $showLatest && ($nameLength + $versionLength + $latestLength + 3 <= $width);
                 $writeDescription = !$input->getOption('name-only') && !$input->getOption('path') && ($nameLength + $versionLength + $latestLength + 24 <= $width);
+                $hasOutdatedPackages = false;
                 foreach ($packages[$type] as $package) {
                     if (is_object($package)) {
                         $latestPackackage = null;
@@ -318,6 +320,8 @@ EOT
                         }
                         if ($input->getOption('outdated') && $latestPackackage && $latestPackackage->getFullPrettyVersion() === $package->getFullPrettyVersion() && !$latestPackackage->isAbandoned()) {
                             continue;
+                        } elseif ($input->getOption('outdated')) {
+                            $hasOutdatedPackages = true;
                         }
 
                         $io->write($indent . str_pad($package->getPrettyName(), $nameLength, ' '), false);
@@ -372,6 +376,9 @@ EOT
                 if ($showAllTypes) {
                     $io->write('');
                 }
+                if ($input->getOption('strict') && $hasOutdatedPackages) {
+                    return 1;
+                }
             }
         }
     }