diff --git a/common/flatpak-transaction.c b/common/flatpak-transaction.c
index 63d00321..029d2166 100644
--- a/common/flatpak-transaction.c
+++ b/common/flatpak-transaction.c
@@ -178,6 +178,7 @@ struct _FlatpakTransactionPrivate
   char                        *parent_window;
   gboolean                     no_pull;
   gboolean                     no_deploy;
+  gboolean                     disable_auto_pin;
   gboolean                     disable_static_deltas;
   gboolean                     disable_prune;
   gboolean                     disable_deps;
@@ -1565,6 +1566,26 @@ flatpak_transaction_set_disable_prune (FlatpakTransaction *self,
   priv->disable_prune = disable_prune;
 }
 
+/**
+ * flatpak_transaction_set_disable_auto_pin:
+ * @self: a #FlatpakTransaction
+ * @disable_pin: whether to disable auto-pinning
+ *
+ * Normally the transaction pins any explicit installations so they will not
+ * be automatically removed. But this can be disabled if you don't want this
+ * behaviour.
+ *
+ * Since: 1.9.1
+ */
+void
+flatpak_transaction_set_disable_auto_pin  (FlatpakTransaction *self,
+                                           gboolean            disable_pin)
+{
+  FlatpakTransactionPrivate *priv = flatpak_transaction_get_instance_private (self);
+
+  priv->disable_auto_pin = disable_pin;
+}
+
 /**
  * flatpak_transaction_set_disable_dependencies:
  * @self: a #FlatpakTransaction
@@ -2306,7 +2327,7 @@ flatpak_transaction_add_install (FlatpakTransaction *self,
 
   /* Pin runtimes that are installed explicitly rather than pulled as
    * dependencies so they are not automatically removed. */
-  if (g_str_has_prefix (ref, "runtime/"))
+  if (g_str_has_prefix (ref, "runtime/") && !priv->disable_auto_pin)
     {
       gboolean already_pinned;
 
diff --git a/common/flatpak-transaction.h b/common/flatpak-transaction.h
index 06efba46..492f2359 100644
--- a/common/flatpak-transaction.h
+++ b/common/flatpak-transaction.h
@@ -221,6 +221,9 @@ FLATPAK_EXTERN
 void                flatpak_transaction_set_disable_related (FlatpakTransaction *self,
                                                              gboolean            disable_related);
 FLATPAK_EXTERN
+void                flatpak_transaction_set_disable_auto_pin  (FlatpakTransaction *self,
+                                                               gboolean            disable_pin);
+FLATPAK_EXTERN
 void                flatpak_transaction_set_reinstall (FlatpakTransaction *self,
                                                        gboolean            reinstall);
 FLATPAK_EXTERN