diff --git a/cli/lightning-cli.c b/cli/lightning-cli.c
index 9ef4b8124..a213665ea 100644
--- a/cli/lightning-cli.c
+++ b/cli/lightning-cli.c
@@ -620,7 +620,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	enum input input = DEFAULT_INPUT;
 	enum log_level notification_level = LOG_INFORM;
 	bool last_was_progress = false;
-	char *command = NULL;
+	char *command = NULL, *filter = NULL;
 
 	err_set_progname(argv[0]);
 	jsmn_init(&parser);
@@ -650,6 +650,9 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	opt_register_arg("-N|--notifications", opt_set_level,
 			 opt_show_level, &notification_level,
 			 "Set notification level, or none");
+	opt_register_arg("-l|--filter", opt_set_charp,
+			 opt_show_charp, &filter,
+			 "Set JSON reply filter");
 
 	opt_register_version();
 
@@ -713,8 +716,11 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		enable_notifications(fd);
 
 	cmd = tal_fmt(ctx,
-		      "{ \"jsonrpc\" : \"2.0\", \"method\" : \"%s\", \"id\" : \"%s\", \"params\" :",
+		      "{ \"jsonrpc\" : \"2.0\", \"method\" : \"%s\", \"id\" : \"%s\",",
 		      json_escape(ctx, method)->s, idstr);
+	if (filter)
+		tal_append_fmt(&cmd, "\"filter\": %s,", filter);
+	tal_append_fmt(&cmd, " \"params\" :");
 
 	if (input == DEFAULT_INPUT) {
 		/* Hacky autodetect; only matters if more than single arg */
diff --git a/doc/lightning-cli.1.md b/doc/lightning-cli.1.md
index 8981c238a..29d2845c4 100644
--- a/doc/lightning-cli.1.md
+++ b/doc/lightning-cli.1.md
@@ -71,6 +71,10 @@ print out notifications of *LEVEL* or above (one of `io`, `debug`,
 `info` (the default), `unusual` or `broken`: they are prefixed with `#
 `.
 
+* **--filter**/**-l**=*JSON*
+
+  This hands lightningd *JSON* as a filter, which controls what will be output, e.g. `'--filter={"help":[{"command":true}]}'`.  See lightningd-rpc(7) for more details on how to specify filters.
+
 * **--help**/**-h**
 
   Pretty-print summary of options to standard output and exit.  The format can
diff --git a/tests/test_misc.py b/tests/test_misc.py
index e28a62379..8dfe56c46 100644
--- a/tests/test_misc.py
+++ b/tests/test_misc.py
@@ -927,6 +927,16 @@ def test_cli(node_factory):
     j, _ = json.JSONDecoder().raw_decode(out)
     assert 'help [command]' in j['help'][0]['verbose']
 
+    # Test filtering
+    out = subprocess.check_output(['cli/lightning-cli',
+                                   '--network={}'.format(TEST_NETWORK),
+                                   '--lightning-dir={}'
+                                   .format(l1.daemon.lightning_dir),
+                                   '-J', '--filter={"help":[{"command":true}]}',
+                                   'help', 'help']).decode('utf-8')
+    j, _ = json.JSONDecoder().raw_decode(out)
+    assert j == {'help': [{'command': 'help [command]'}]}
+
     # Test missing parameters.
     try:
         # This will error due to missing parameters.