diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index c12eb3c..38ff01e 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ class UpdateNotifier {
 		this.disabled = 'NO_UPDATE_NOTIFIER' in process.env ||
 			process.argv.indexOf('--no-update-notifier') !== -1 ||
 			isCi();
+		this.shouldNotifyInNpmScript = options.shouldNotifyInNpmScript;
 
 		if (!this.disabled && !this.hasCallback) {
 			try {
@@ -108,7 +109,8 @@ class UpdateNotifier {
 		});
 	}
 	notify(opts) {
-		if (!process.stdout.isTTY || isNpm() || !this.update) {
+		const suppressForNpm = !this.shouldNotifyInNpmScript && isNpm();
+		if (!process.stdout.isTTY || suppressForNpm || !this.update) {
 			return this;
 		}
 
diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
index 6910949..ef6a1a8 100644
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -153,6 +153,13 @@ Default: `{padding: 1, margin: 1, align: 'center', borderColor: 'yellow', border
 
 Options object that will be passed to [`boxen`](https://github.com/sindresorhus/boxen).
 
+##### shouldNotifyInNpmScript
+
+Type: `boolean`<br>
+Default: `false`
+
+Allows notification to be shown when running as an npm script.
+
 ### User settings
 
 Users of your module have the ability to opt-out of the update notifier by changing the `optOut` property to `true` in `~/.config/configstore/update-notifier-[your-module-name].json`. The path is available in `notifier.config.path`.
diff --git a/test/notify.js b/test/notify.js
index ab24d5d..609bb79 100644
--- a/test/notify.js
+++ b/test/notify.js
@@ -3,33 +3,33 @@ import clearModule from 'clear-module';
 import FixtureStdout from 'fixture-stdout';
 import stripAnsi from 'strip-ansi';
 import test from 'ava';
+import mock from 'mock-require';
 
 const stderr = new FixtureStdout({
 	stream: process.stderr
 });
-let updateNotifier = require('..');
 
-test.before(() => {
-	['.', 'is-npm'].forEach(clearModule);
-	['npm_config_username', 'npm_package_name', 'npm_config_heading'].forEach(name => {
-		delete process.env[name];
-	});
-	process.stdout.isTTY = true;
-	updateNotifier = require('..');
-});
-
-function Control() {
+function Control(shouldNotifyInNpmScript) {
 	this.packageName = 'update-notifier-tester';
 	this.update = {
 		current: '0.0.2',
 		latest: '1.0.0'
 	};
+	this.shouldNotifyInNpmScript = shouldNotifyInNpmScript;
 }
-util.inherits(Control, updateNotifier.UpdateNotifier);
+
+const setupTest = isNpmReturnValue => {
+	['.', 'is-npm'].forEach(clearModule);
+	process.stdout.isTTY = true;
+	mock('is-npm', isNpmReturnValue || false);
+	const updateNotifier = require('..');
+	util.inherits(Control, updateNotifier.UpdateNotifier);
+};
 
 let errorLogs = '';
 
 test.beforeEach(() => {
+	setupTest();
 	stderr.capture(s => {
 		errorLogs += s;
 		return false;
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ test.beforeEach(() => {
 });
 
 test.afterEach(() => {
+	mock.stopAll();
 	stderr.release();
 	errorLogs = '';
 });
@@ -62,3 +63,23 @@ test('exclude -g argument when `isGlobal` option is `false`', t => {
 	notifier.notify({defer: false, isGlobal: false});
 	t.not(stripAnsi(errorLogs).indexOf('Run npm i update-notifier-tester to update'), -1);
 });
+
+test('shouldNotifyInNpmScript should default to false', t => {
+	const notifier = new Control();
+	notifier.notify({defer: false});
+	t.not(stripAnsi(errorLogs).indexOf('Update available'), -1);
+});
+
+test('suppress output when running as npm script', t => {
+	setupTest(true);
+	const notifier = new Control();
+	notifier.notify({defer: false});
+	t.is(stripAnsi(errorLogs).indexOf('Update available'), -1);
+});
+
+test('should ouput if running as npm script and shouldNotifyInNpmScript option set', t => {
+	setupTest(true);
+	const notifier = new Control(true);
+	notifier.notify({defer: false});
+	t.not(stripAnsi(errorLogs).indexOf('Update available'), -1);
+});