diff --git a/doc/03-cli.md b/doc/03-cli.md
index 2a69d7540..a87247482 100644
--- a/doc/03-cli.md
+++ b/doc/03-cli.md
@@ -96,9 +96,9 @@ If you just want to update a few packages and not all, you can list them as such
 
     $ php composer.phar update vendor/package vendor/package2
 
-You can also use a Regular expression pattern to update a bunch of packages at once:
+You can also use wildcards to update a bunch of packages at once:
 
-    $ php composer.phar update vendor.*
+    $ php composer.phar update vendor/*
 
 ### Options
 
diff --git a/src/Composer/Installer.php b/src/Composer/Installer.php
index dea566eca..ef44d2109 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Installer.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Installer.php
@@ -625,7 +625,9 @@ class Installer
         }
 
         foreach($this->updateWhitelist as $whiteListedPattern => $void) {
-            if(preg_match("#^".$whiteListedPattern."$#i", $package->getName())) {
+            $cleanedWhiteListedPattern = str_replace('\*', '.*', preg_quote($whiteListedPattern));
+
+            if(preg_match("#^".$cleanedWhiteListedPattern."$#i", $package->getName())) {
                 return true;
             }
         }
diff --git a/tests/Composer/Test/Fixtures/installer/update-whitelist-patterns.test b/tests/Composer/Test/Fixtures/installer/update-whitelist-patterns.test
index ff959dd3e..e8aa593c0 100644
--- a/tests/Composer/Test/Fixtures/installer/update-whitelist-patterns.test
+++ b/tests/Composer/Test/Fixtures/installer/update-whitelist-patterns.test
@@ -12,7 +12,8 @@ Update with a package whitelist only updates those corresponding to the pattern
                 { "name": "notexact/TestPackage", "version": "2.0" },
                 { "name": "all/Package1", "version": "2.0" },
                 { "name": "all/Package2", "version": "2.0" },
-                { "name": "another/another", "version": "2.0" }
+                { "name": "another/another", "version": "2.0" },
+                { "name": "no/regexp", "version": "2.0" }
             ]
         }
     ],
@@ -23,7 +24,8 @@ Update with a package whitelist only updates those corresponding to the pattern
         "notexact/TestPackage": "*.*",
         "all/Package1": "*.*",
         "all/Package2": "*.*",
-        "another/another": "*.*"
+        "another/another": "*.*",
+        "no/regexp": "*.*"
     }
 }
 --INSTALLED--
@@ -34,10 +36,11 @@ Update with a package whitelist only updates those corresponding to the pattern
     { "name": "notexact/TestPackage", "version": "1.0" },
     { "name": "all/Package1", "version": "1.0" },
     { "name": "all/Package2", "version": "1.0" },
-    { "name": "another/another", "version": "1.0" }
+    { "name": "another/another", "version": "1.0" },
+    { "name": "no/regexp", "version": "1.0" }
 ]
 --RUN--
-update vendor/Test.* exact/Test-Package notexact/Test all.*
+update vendor/Test* exact/Test-Package notexact/Test all/* no/reg?xp
 --EXPECT--
 Updating vendor/Test-Package (1.0) to vendor/Test-Package (2.0)
 Updating exact/Test-Package (1.0) to exact/Test-Package (2.0)