diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index f830278..bbeeeb2 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -182,6 +182,10 @@ Each of these options must appear first on the command line.
     optionally provide the path to an ini file.
 
 
+``--update_hook``
+    This option can be used as part of a server side update hook by adding 
+    `git-secrets  --update_hook -- "$@"` to an update script on a git server
+
 Options for ``--install``
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
diff --git a/git-secrets b/git-secrets
index 09f18e8..5198b1e 100755
--- a/git-secrets
+++ b/git-secrets
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ f,force --install overwrites hooks if the hook already exists
 l,literal --add and --add-allowed patterns are escaped so that they are literal
 a,allowed --add adds an allowed pattern instead of a prohibited pattern
 global Uses the --global git config
+update_hook* update hook (internal only)
 commit_msg_hook* commit-msg hook (internal only)
 pre_commit_hook* pre-commit hook (internal only)
 prepare_commit_msg_hook* prepare-commit-msg hook (internal only)"
@@ -61,11 +62,17 @@ load_patterns() {
 }
 
 load_allowed() {
+  local new_rev="$1"
   git config --get-all secrets.allowed
   local gitallowed="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)/.gitallowed"
   if [ -e "$gitallowed" ]; then
     cat $gitallowed | awk 'NF && $1!~/^#/'
   fi
+  if [ -n "${new_rev}" ]; then
+    git show ${new_rev}:.gitallowed 2>/dev/null | awk 'NF && $1!~/^#/'
+    # If there is a new commit being pushed to the server, read the .gitallowed from the new commit
+    # not the one that is already there
+  fi
 }
 
 # load patterns and combine them with |
@@ -106,6 +113,38 @@ scan_history() {
   process_output $? "${output}"
 }
 
+
+# Scans commits that have been pushed to server through update hook
+update_hook() {
+  local old_rev=$2
+  local new_rev=$3
+
+  local new_branch=0
+  local to_scan=''
+
+  # Deal with weirdness on new branches. Thank you stack overflow! https://stackoverflow.com/a/19738143
+  if [ "${old_rev}" = '0000000000000000000000000000000000000000' ]; then
+      new_branch=1
+      to_scan=$(git rev-list $new_rev --not --branches=*)
+  fi
+
+  local combined_patterns=$(load_combined_patterns)
+
+  [ -z "${combined_patterns}" ] && return 0
+
+  # Looks for differences in commit range if not a new branch
+  if [ $new_branch -eq 0 ]; then
+    local to_scan=$(git log ${old_rev}..${new_rev} -G"${combined_patterns}" --pretty=%H)
+  fi
+  [ -z "${to_scan}" ] && return 0
+
+  # Scan through revisions with findings to normalize output
+  output=$(GREP_OPTIONS= LC_ALL=C git grep -nwHEI "${combined_patterns}" $to_scan)
+  process_output $? "${output}" "${new_rev}"
+}
+
+
+
 # Performs a git-grep, taking into account patterns and options.
 # Note: this function returns 1 on success, 0 on error.
 git_grep() {
@@ -129,8 +168,8 @@ regular_grep() {
 # Takes into account allowed patterns, and if a bad match is found,
 # prints an error message and exits 1.
 process_output() {
-  local status="$1" output="$2"
-  local allowed=$(load_allowed)
+  local status="$1" output="$2" new_rev="$3"
+  local allowed=$(load_allowed $new_rev)
   case "$status" in
     0)
       [ -z "${allowed}" ] && echo "${output}" >&2 && return 1
@@ -179,6 +218,7 @@ pre_commit_hook() {
   scan_with_fn_or_die "scan" "${files[@]}"
 }
 
+
 # Determines if merging in a commit will introduce tainted history.
 prepare_commit_msg_hook() {
   case "$2,$3" in
@@ -324,7 +364,7 @@ case "${COMMAND}" in
   --add-provider) add_config "secrets.providers" "$@" ;;
   --register-aws) register_aws ;;
   --aws-provider) aws_provider "$1" ;;
-  --commit_msg_hook|--pre_commit_hook|--prepare_commit_msg_hook)
+  --commit_msg_hook|--pre_commit_hook|--prepare_commit_msg_hook|--update_hook)
     ${COMMAND:2} "$@"
     ;;
   --add)