diff --git a/resources/js/components/update-instructions.tsx b/resources/js/components/update-instructions.tsx
index 5c24b005..cdf52312 100644
--- a/resources/js/components/update-instructions.tsx
+++ b/resources/js/components/update-instructions.tsx
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { UpdateOptionsDialog } from '@/components/update-options-dialog';
 import { useTranslation } from '@/hooks/use-translation';
 import { cn } from '@/lib/utils';
 
@@ -45,9 +46,10 @@ export function UpdateInstructions({
 
     if (compact) {
         return (
-            <p className="text-muted-foreground">
-                {t('To update, run sudo ./update.sh in the install directory — it asks before it downloads or changes anything.')}
-            </p>
+            <div className="text-muted-foreground space-y-1">
+                <p>{t('To update, run sudo ./update.sh in the install directory — it asks before it downloads or changes anything.')}</p>
+                <UpdateOptionsDialog />
+            </div>
         );
     }
 
@@ -65,6 +67,9 @@ export function UpdateInstructions({
                     'It asks before checking for a release, before downloading one, and before touching your installation — and verifies the checksum of what it downloads. UPDATE.md has the full procedure.',
                 )}
             </p>
+            <div className="mt-1">
+                <UpdateOptionsDialog />
+            </div>
         </>
     );
 }
diff --git a/resources/js/components/update-options-dialog.tsx b/resources/js/components/update-options-dialog.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..13341ffe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/resources/js/components/update-options-dialog.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+import { useState } from 'react';
+
+import { Dialog, DialogContent, DialogHeader, DialogTitle } from '@/components/ui/dialog';
+import { useTranslation } from '@/hooks/use-translation';
+
+/**
+ * The handful of update.sh options worth knowing about, behind a link
+ * rather than printed on the page.
+ *
+ * The screen that tells somebody how to update has one job: the one
+ * command. Listing every flag beside it would bury that command under
+ * options most people never need — but two of them are the ones an
+ * administrator most wants at exactly that moment ("can it back up for
+ * me?", "can I just look?"), and finding them meant opening UPDATE.md on
+ * a machine they are probably not sitting at.
+ *
+ * So: nothing on screen until asked for, and then four lines. The script
+ * documents the rest with --help, and UPDATE.md documents the procedure.
+ *
+ * It opens from inside the update dialog as well as from the dashboard
+ * card. A dialog on top of a dialog is unusual, and correct here — the
+ * reader asked for a footnote to what they are already reading, and
+ * Escape returns them to it.
+ */
+export function UpdateOptionsDialog() {
+    const { t } = useTranslation();
+    const [open, setOpen] = useState(false);
+
+    const options: { flag: string; description: string }[] = [
+        { flag: '--backup', description: t('Dump the database before touching anything, and stop if the dump fails.') },
+        { flag: '--check', description: t('Report which version is installed and which is available, and change nothing.') },
+        { flag: '--i-have-a-backup', description: t('Skip the question about backups, for a run you are not sitting in front of.') },
+        { flag: '--no-restart', description: t('Leave PHP and the worker alone, for when you restart them yourself.') },
+    ];
+
+    return (
+        <>
+            <button type="button" onClick={() => setOpen(true)} className="text-muted-foreground text-xs underline hover:no-underline">
+                {t('Other options')}
+            </button>
+
+            <Dialog open={open} onOpenChange={setOpen}>
+                <DialogContent className="max-w-lg">
+                    <DialogHeader>
+                        <DialogTitle>{t('Update options')}</DialogTitle>
+                    </DialogHeader>
+
+                    <div className="space-y-3 text-sm">
+                        <p className="text-muted-foreground">
+                            {t('Run the script with no options and it asks about each of these as it goes. These are for the runs where you already know the answer.')}
+                        </p>
+
+                        <dl className="divide-y">
+                            {options.map((option) => (
+                                <div key={option.flag} className="grid gap-1 py-2 sm:grid-cols-[10rem_1fr] sm:gap-3">
+                                    <dt>
+                                        <code className="bg-muted rounded px-1.5 py-0.5 text-xs">{option.flag}</code>
+                                    </dt>
+                                    <dd className="text-muted-foreground">{option.description}</dd>
+                                </div>
+                            ))}
+                        </dl>
+
+                        <p className="text-muted-foreground text-xs">
+                            {t('sudo ./update.sh --help lists every option, and UPDATE.md walks through the whole procedure, including doing it by hand.')}
+                        </p>
+                    </div>
+                </DialogContent>
+            </Dialog>
+        </>
+    );
+}