diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index b5c8dd94..997e4873 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 0.150
   - add "osc api --edit" option to be able to edit some meta files directly
   - follow the request order of the api (sorting according to priorization)
+  - add mr --release-project option for kgraft updates
 
 0.149
   - removed "--diff" option from the "createrequest" command
diff --git a/osc/commandline.py b/osc/commandline.py
index 5e34d5d8..bc0317e0 100644
--- a/osc/commandline.py
+++ b/osc/commandline.py
@@ -2910,6 +2910,8 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
                         help='Use this attribute to find default maintenance project (default is OBS:MaintenanceProject)')
     @cmdln.option('-m', '--message', metavar='TEXT',
                         help='specify message TEXT')
+    @cmdln.option('--release-project', metavar='RELEASEPROJECT',
+                        help='Specify the release project')
     @cmdln.option('--no-cleanup', action='store_true',
                   help='do not remove source project on accept')
     @cmdln.option('--cleanup', action='store_true',
@@ -2933,6 +2935,9 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
             osc maintenancerequest [ SOURCEPROJECT [ SOURCEPACKAGES RELEASEPROJECT ] ]
         ${cmd_option_list}
         """
+        #FIXME: the follow syntax would make more sense and would obsolete the --release-project parameter
+        #       but is incompatible with the current one
+        # osc maintenancerequest [ SOURCEPROJECT [ RELEASEPROJECT [ SOURCEPACKAGES ] ]
 
         args = slash_split(args)
         apiurl = self.get_api_url()
@@ -2961,6 +2966,9 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
             if source_project.startswith(default_branch):
                 opt_sourceupdate = 'cleanup'
 
+        if opts.release_project:
+            release_project = opts.release_project
+
         if opts.incident_project:
             target_project = opts.incident_project
         else: