Index: usr.sbin/freebsd-update/freebsd-update.8
===================================================================
--- usr.sbin/freebsd-update/freebsd-update.8	(revision 351250)
+++ usr.sbin/freebsd-update/freebsd-update.8	(working copy)
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 .\"
 .\" $FreeBSD$
 .\"
-.Dd June 14, 2017
+.Dd August 20, 2019
 .Dt FREEBSD-UPDATE 8
 .Os
 .Sh NAME
@@ -183,6 +183,13 @@
 If you intend to use this command for intrusion-detection
 purposes, make sure you boot from a secure disk (e.g., a CD).
 .El
+.Sh ENVIRONMENT
+When
+.Ev SKIPISFETCHEDCHECK
+is set to a non-empty value,
+.Nm
+will not check if a fetch phase happened in case no
+updates are available to install.
 .Sh FILES
 .Bl -tag -width "/etc/freebsd-update.conf"
 .It Pa /etc/freebsd-update.conf
Index: usr.sbin/freebsd-update/freebsd-update.sh
===================================================================
--- usr.sbin/freebsd-update/freebsd-update.sh	(revision 351250)
+++ usr.sbin/freebsd-update/freebsd-update.sh	(working copy)
@@ -817,7 +817,7 @@
 	# Check that we have updates ready to install
 	if ! [ -L ${BDHASH}-install ]; then
 		echo "No updates are available to install."
-		if [ $ISFETCHED -eq 0 ]; then
+		if [ $ISFETCHED -eq 0 ] && [ -z "$SKIPISFETCHEDCHECK" ]; then
 			echo "Run '$0 fetch' first."
 			exit 1
 		fi