diff --git a/src/Config.php b/src/Config.php
index f68a519..4f4c56f 100644
--- a/src/Config.php
+++ b/src/Config.php
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ public function getDefaultConfig()
             'allow_list' => [],
             'update_dev_dependencies' => 1,
             'check_only_direct_dependencies' => 1,
+            'composer_outdated_flag' => 'minor',
             'bundled_packages' => (object) [],
             'blocklist' => [],
             'assignees' => [],
@@ -77,6 +78,22 @@ public function setConfig($config)
         }
     }
 
+    public function getComposerOutdatedFlag() : string
+    {
+        if (empty($this->config->composer_outdated_flag)) {
+            return 'minor';
+        }
+        $allowed_values = [
+            'major',
+            'minor',
+            'patch',
+        ];
+        if (!in_array($this->config->composer_outdated_flag, $allowed_values)) {
+            return 'minor';
+        }
+        return $this->config->composer_outdated_flag;
+    }
+
     public function getLabels() : array
     {
         if (!is_array($this->config->labels)) {
diff --git a/tests/UnitTest.php b/tests/UnitTest.php
index a42d5fe..cad7977 100644
--- a/tests/UnitTest.php
+++ b/tests/UnitTest.php
@@ -31,6 +31,17 @@ public function testGetOptionSet($filename, $option, $expected_result)
         self::assertEquals($data->hasConfigForKey($option), $expected_result);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Test the composer_outdated_flag option.
+     *
+     * @dataProvider getOutdatedFlag
+     */
+    public function testOutdatedFlag($filename, $expected_result)
+    {
+        $data = $this->createDataFromFixture($filename);
+        self::assertEquals($expected_result, $data->getComposerOutdatedFlag());
+    }
+
     /**
      * Test that getLabels returns the expected things.
      *
@@ -358,6 +369,32 @@ protected function createDataFromFixture($filename)
         return Config::createFromComposerData($file_contents);
     }
 
+    public static function getOutdatedFlag() : array
+    {
+        return [
+            [
+                'empty.json',
+                'minor',
+            ],
+            [
+                'outdated_flag.json',
+                'minor',
+            ],
+            [
+                'outdated_flag1.json',
+                'minor',
+            ],
+            [
+                'outdated_flag2.json',
+                'patch',
+            ],
+            [
+                'outdated_flag3.json',
+                'minor',
+            ],
+        ];
+    }
+
     public function getUpdateWithDeps()
     {
         return [
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/outdated_flag.json b/tests/fixtures/outdated_flag.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ed81798
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/outdated_flag.json
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+{
+  "extra": {
+    "violinist": {
+      "composer_outdated_flag": 1
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/outdated_flag1.json b/tests/fixtures/outdated_flag1.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0cf02a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/outdated_flag1.json
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+{
+  "extra": {
+    "violinist": {
+      "composer_outdated_flag": [
+        "1",
+      ]
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/outdated_flag2.json b/tests/fixtures/outdated_flag2.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..588f9ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/outdated_flag2.json
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+{
+  "extra": {
+    "violinist": {
+      "composer_outdated_flag": "patch"
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/outdated_flag3.json b/tests/fixtures/outdated_flag3.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cbefa68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/outdated_flag3.json
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+{
+  "extra": {
+    "violinist": {
+      "composer_outdated_flag": ""
+    }
+  }
+}