diff --git a/app/flatpak-builtins-update.c b/app/flatpak-builtins-update.c
index 9336f771..0a2f0e2a 100644
--- a/app/flatpak-builtins-update.c
+++ b/app/flatpak-builtins-update.c
@@ -251,6 +251,9 @@ flatpak_builtin_update (int           argc,
   if (!flatpak_transaction_run (transaction, FALSE, cancellable, error))
     return FALSE;
 
+  if (n_prefs == 0)
+    return update_appstream (dir, NULL, cancellable, error);
+
   return TRUE;
 }
 
diff --git a/doc/flatpak-update.xml b/doc/flatpak-update.xml
index 028147fb..c90ac1ac 100644
--- a/doc/flatpak-update.xml
+++ b/doc/flatpak-update.xml
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
         <para>
             Updates applications and runtimes. <arg choice="plain">REF</arg> is a reference to the
             application or runtime to install. If no <arg choice="plain">REF</arg> is given, everything
-            is updated.
+            is updated, as well as appstream info for all remotes.
         </para>
         <para>
             Each <arg choice="plain">REF</arg> arguments is a full or partial indentifier in the