diff --git a/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/dependencylock/DependencyLockPlugin.groovy b/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/dependencylock/DependencyLockPlugin.groovy
index 2ba73d0b..4eb18eb2 100644
--- a/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/dependencylock/DependencyLockPlugin.groovy
+++ b/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/dependencylock/DependencyLockPlugin.groovy
@@ -295,8 +295,10 @@ class DependencyLockPlugin implements Plugin<Project> {
     private void maybeApplyLock(Configuration conf, DependencyLockExtension extension, Map overrides, String globalLockFileName, String lockFilename) {
         File dependenciesLock
         File globalLock = new File(project.rootProject.projectDir, globalLockFileName ?: extension.globalLockFile)
+        boolean isGlobal = false
         if (globalLock.exists()) {
             dependenciesLock = globalLock
+            isGlobal = true
         } else {
             dependenciesLock = new File(project.projectDir, lockFilename ?: extension.lockFile)
         }
@@ -307,11 +309,11 @@ class DependencyLockPlugin implements Plugin<Project> {
             boolean hasGenerateTask = hasGenerationTask(taskNames)
             if (dependenciesLock.exists()) {
                 if (!hasGenerateTask) {
-                    applyLock(conf, dependenciesLock, overrides)
+                    applyLock(conf, dependenciesLock, overrides, [], isGlobal)
                     appliedLock = true
                 } else if (hasUpdateTask(taskNames)) {
                     def updates = project.hasProperty(UPDATE_DEPENDENCIES) ? parseUpdates(project.property(UPDATE_DEPENDENCIES) as String) : extension.updateDependencies
-                    applyLock(conf, dependenciesLock, overrides, updates)
+                    applyLock(conf, dependenciesLock, overrides, updates, isGlobal)
                     appliedLock = true
                 }
             }
@@ -361,12 +363,20 @@ class DependencyLockPlugin implements Plugin<Project> {
         updates.tokenize(',') as Set
     }
 
-    void applyLock(Configuration conf, File dependenciesLock, Map overrides, Collection<String> updates = []) {
+    private static boolean isTopLevel(info, deps, isGlobal) {
+        // If this is not listed as being depended on at all, it must be a top-level dependency
+        if (info.transitive == null) return true
+
+        // If a dependency is listed as being depended on by something that we know is a project, then it must be a top-level dependency
+        return isGlobal && info.transitive.any { deps[it]?.project }
+    }
+
+    void applyLock(Configuration conf, File dependenciesLock, Map overrides, Collection<String> updates = [], boolean isGlobal) {
         LOGGER.info("Using ${dependenciesLock.name} to lock dependencies in $conf")
         def locks = loadLock(dependenciesLock)
 
         if (updates) {
-            locks = locks.collectEntries { configurationName, deps -> [(configurationName): deps.findAll { coord, info -> (info.transitive == null) && !updates.contains(coord) }] }
+            locks = locks.collectEntries { configurationName, deps -> [(configurationName): deps.findAll { coord, info -> isTopLevel(info, deps, isGlobal) && !updates.contains(coord) }] }
         }
 
         // in the old format, all first level props were groupId:artifactId
diff --git a/src/test/groovy/nebula/plugin/dependencylock/DependencyLockLauncherSpec.groovy b/src/test/groovy/nebula/plugin/dependencylock/DependencyLockLauncherSpec.groovy
index 25ee49e0..ddbeb7cf 100644
--- a/src/test/groovy/nebula/plugin/dependencylock/DependencyLockLauncherSpec.groovy
+++ b/src/test/groovy/nebula/plugin/dependencylock/DependencyLockLauncherSpec.groovy
@@ -1115,6 +1115,95 @@ class DependencyLockLauncherSpec extends IntegrationSpec {
         !result.standardOutput.contains("is using a deprecated lock format")
     }
 
+    def 'only the update dependency and its transitives are updated when using a global lock'() {
+        addSubproject('sub1', """\
+            dependencies {
+                compile 'test.example:bar:1.+'
+                compile 'test.example:qux:latest.release'
+            }
+        """.stripIndent())
+        buildFile << """\
+            allprojects {
+                ${applyPlugin(DependencyLockPlugin)}
+                group = 'test'
+            }
+            subprojects {
+                apply plugin: 'java'
+                repositories { maven { url '${Fixture.repo}' } }
+            }
+            dependencyLock {
+                includeTransitives = true
+            }
+        """.stripIndent()
+
+        def lockFile = new File(projectDir, 'global.lock')
+        def lockText = '''\
+                {
+                    "_global_": {
+                        "test.example:bar": {
+                            "locked": "1.0.0",
+                            "requested": "1.+",
+                            "transitive": [
+                                "test:sub1"
+                            ]
+                        },
+                        "test.example:qux": {
+                            "locked": "1.0.0",
+                            "requested": "latest.release",
+                            "transitive": [
+                                "test:sub1"
+                            ]
+                        },
+                        "test.example:foo": {
+                            "locked": "1.0.0",
+                            "transitive": [
+                                "test.example:bar",
+                                "test.example:qux"
+                            ]
+                        },
+                        "test:sub1": {
+                            "project": true
+                        }
+                    }
+                }'''.stripIndent()
+        lockFile.text = lockText
+
+        def updatedLock = '''\
+                {
+                    "_global_": {
+                        "test.example:bar": {
+                            "locked": "1.1.0",
+                            "transitive": [
+                                "test:sub1"
+                            ]
+                        },
+                        "test.example:foo": {
+                            "locked": "1.0.1",
+                            "transitive": [
+                                "test.example:bar",
+                                "test.example:qux"
+                            ]
+                        },
+                        "test.example:qux": {
+                            "locked": "1.0.0",
+                            "transitive": [
+                                "test:sub1"
+                            ]
+                        },
+                        "test:sub1": {
+                            "project": true
+                        }
+                    }
+                }'''.stripIndent()
+
+        when:
+        def results = runTasksSuccessfully('updateGlobalLock', '-PdependencyLock.updateDependencies=test.example:bar')
+
+        then:
+        println results.standardOutput
+        new File(projectDir, 'build/global.lock').text == updatedLock
+    }
+
     @Ignore
     def 'diff the generated lock with the existing lock '() {
         def dependenciesLock = new File(projectDir, 'dependencies.lock')