diff --git a/cli/command/service/update.go b/cli/command/service/update.go
index 8adcdfa8f2..b3253fe306 100644
--- a/cli/command/service/update.go
+++ b/cli/command/service/update.go
@@ -1409,9 +1409,17 @@ func updateCapabilities(flags *pflag.FlagSet, containerSpec *swarm.ContainerSpec
 	)
 	if flags.Changed(flagCapAdd) {
 		toAdd = opts.CapabilitiesMap(flags.Lookup(flagCapAdd).Value.(*opts.ListOpts).GetAll())
+		if toAdd[opts.ResetCapabilities] {
+			capAdd = make(map[string]bool)
+			delete(toAdd, opts.ResetCapabilities)
+		}
 	}
 	if flags.Changed(flagCapDrop) {
 		toDrop = opts.CapabilitiesMap(flags.Lookup(flagCapDrop).Value.(*opts.ListOpts).GetAll())
+		if toDrop[opts.ResetCapabilities] {
+			capDrop = make(map[string]bool)
+			delete(toDrop, opts.ResetCapabilities)
+		}
 	}
 
 	// First remove the capabilities to "drop" from the service's exiting
diff --git a/cli/command/service/update_test.go b/cli/command/service/update_test.go
index cbae2ddd11..31021ebe7f 100644
--- a/cli/command/service/update_test.go
+++ b/cli/command/service/update_test.go
@@ -1522,6 +1522,50 @@ func TestUpdateCaps(t *testing.T) {
 			expectedAdd:  []string{"CAP_AAA", "CAP_BBB", "CAP_CCC", "CAP_DDD"},
 			expectedDrop: []string{"CAP_WWW", "CAP_XXX", "CAP_YYY", "CAP_ZZZ"},
 		},
+		{
+			name:     "Reset capabilities",
+			flagAdd:  []string{"RESET"},
+			flagDrop: []string{"RESET"},
+			spec: &swarm.ContainerSpec{
+				CapabilityAdd:  []string{"CAP_AAA", "CAP_BBB", "CAP_CCC", "CAP_DDD"},
+				CapabilityDrop: []string{"CAP_WWW", "CAP_XXX", "CAP_YYY", "CAP_ZZZ"},
+			},
+			expectedAdd:  nil,
+			expectedDrop: nil,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "Reset capabilities, and update after",
+			flagAdd:  []string{"RESET", "CAP_ADD_ONE", "CAP_FOO"},
+			flagDrop: []string{"RESET", "CAP_DROP_ONE", "CAP_FOO"},
+			spec: &swarm.ContainerSpec{
+				CapabilityAdd:  []string{"CAP_AAA", "CAP_BBB", "CAP_CCC", "CAP_DDD"},
+				CapabilityDrop: []string{"CAP_WWW", "CAP_XXX", "CAP_YYY", "CAP_ZZZ"},
+			},
+			expectedAdd:  []string{"CAP_ADD_ONE", "CAP_FOO"},
+			expectedDrop: []string{"CAP_DROP_ONE"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "Reset capabilities, and add ALL",
+			flagAdd:  []string{"RESET", "ALL"},
+			flagDrop: []string{"RESET", "ALL"},
+			spec: &swarm.ContainerSpec{
+				CapabilityAdd:  []string{"CAP_AAA", "CAP_BBB", "CAP_CCC", "CAP_DDD"},
+				CapabilityDrop: []string{"CAP_WWW", "CAP_XXX", "CAP_YYY", "CAP_ZZZ"},
+			},
+			expectedAdd:  []string{"ALL"},
+			expectedDrop: nil,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "Add ALL and RESET",
+			flagAdd:  []string{"ALL", "RESET"},
+			flagDrop: []string{"ALL", "RESET"},
+			spec: &swarm.ContainerSpec{
+				CapabilityAdd:  []string{"CAP_AAA", "CAP_BBB", "CAP_CCC", "CAP_DDD"},
+				CapabilityDrop: []string{"CAP_WWW", "CAP_XXX", "CAP_YYY", "CAP_ZZZ"},
+			},
+			expectedAdd:  []string{"ALL"},
+			expectedDrop: nil,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range tests {
diff --git a/contrib/completion/bash/docker b/contrib/completion/bash/docker
index f55c302f49..8d5f37a486 100644
--- a/contrib/completion/bash/docker
+++ b/contrib/completion/bash/docker
@@ -857,6 +857,7 @@ __docker_complete_capabilities_addable() {
 		CAP_SYS_TIME
 		CAP_SYS_TTY_CONFIG
 		CAP_WAKE_ALARM
+		RESET
   )
 	COMPREPLY=( $( compgen -W "${capabilities[*]} ${capabilities[*]#CAP_}" -- "$cur" ) )
 }
@@ -881,6 +882,7 @@ __docker_complete_capabilities_droppable() {
 		CAP_SETPCAP
 		CAP_SETUID
 		CAP_SYS_CHROOT
+		RESET
 	)
 	COMPREPLY=( $( compgen -W "${capabilities[*]} ${capabilities[*]#CAP_}" -- "$cur" ) )
 }
diff --git a/opts/capabilities.go b/opts/capabilities.go
index 1a2e19a89d..8b57870376 100644
--- a/opts/capabilities.go
+++ b/opts/capabilities.go
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@ import (
 const (
 	// AllCapabilities is a special value to add or drop all capabilities
 	AllCapabilities = "ALL"
+
+	// ResetCapabilities is a special value to reset capabilities when updating.
+	// This value should only be used when updating, not used on "create".
+	ResetCapabilities = "RESET"
 )
 
 // NormalizeCapability normalizes a capability by upper-casing, trimming white space
@@ -19,7 +23,7 @@ const (
 // handled by the daemon.
 func NormalizeCapability(cap string) string {
 	cap = strings.ToUpper(strings.TrimSpace(cap))
-	if cap == AllCapabilities {
+	if cap == AllCapabilities || cap == ResetCapabilities {
 		return cap
 	}
 	if !strings.HasPrefix(cap, "CAP_") {
@@ -44,6 +48,9 @@ func CapabilitiesMap(caps []string) map[string]bool {
 // lists are removed from the list of capabilities to drop. The special "ALL"
 // capability is also taken into account.
 //
+// Note that the special "RESET" value is only used when updating an existing
+// service, and will be ignored.
+//
 // Duplicates are removed, and the resulting lists are sorted.
 func EffectiveCapAddCapDrop(add, drop []string) (capAdd, capDrop []string) {
 	var (
@@ -64,11 +71,15 @@ func EffectiveCapAddCapDrop(add, drop []string) (capAdd, capDrop []string) {
 			// Adding a capability takes precedence, so skip dropping
 			continue
 		}
-		capDrop = append(capDrop, c)
+		if c != ResetCapabilities {
+			capDrop = append(capDrop, c)
+		}
 	}
 
 	for c := range addCaps {
-		capAdd = append(capAdd, c)
+		if c != ResetCapabilities {
+			capAdd = append(capAdd, c)
+		}
 	}
 
 	sort.Strings(capAdd)