diff --git a/lib/libalpm/alpm.h b/lib/libalpm/alpm.h
index 43df31c1..e3a512a1 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/alpm.h
+++ b/lib/libalpm/alpm.h
@@ -493,6 +493,7 @@ enum _pmerrno_t {
 	PM_ERR_TRANS_DOWNLOADING,
 	/* Packages */
 	PM_ERR_PKG_NOT_FOUND,
+	PM_ERR_PKG_IGNORED,
 	PM_ERR_PKG_INVALID,
 	PM_ERR_PKG_OPEN,
 	PM_ERR_PKG_LOAD,
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/deps.c b/lib/libalpm/deps.c
index 694e5be5..dd5bd207 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/deps.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/deps.c
@@ -520,6 +520,7 @@ pmpkg_t *_alpm_resolvedep(pmdepend_t *dep, alpm_list_t *dbs,
 		alpm_list_t *excluding, int prompt)
 {
 	alpm_list_t *i, *j;
+	int ignored = 0;
 	/* 1. literals */
 	for(i = dbs; i; i = i->next) {
 		pmpkg_t *pkg = _alpm_db_get_pkgfromcache(i->data, dep->name);
@@ -531,6 +532,7 @@ pmpkg_t *_alpm_resolvedep(pmdepend_t *dep, alpm_list_t *dbs,
 							 NULL, NULL, &install);
 				}
 				if(!install) {
+					ignored = 1;
 					continue;
 				}
 			}
@@ -550,6 +552,7 @@ pmpkg_t *_alpm_resolvedep(pmdepend_t *dep, alpm_list_t *dbs,
 									pkg, NULL, NULL, &install);
 					}
 					if(!install) {
+						ignored = 1;
 						continue;
 					}
 				}
@@ -559,6 +562,11 @@ pmpkg_t *_alpm_resolvedep(pmdepend_t *dep, alpm_list_t *dbs,
 			}
 		}
 	}
+	if(ignored) { /* resolvedeps will override these */
+		pm_errno = PM_ERR_PKG_IGNORED;
+	} else {
+		pm_errno = PM_ERR_PKG_NOT_FOUND;
+	}
 	return(NULL);
 }
 
@@ -640,7 +648,7 @@ int _alpm_resolvedeps(pmdb_t *local, alpm_list_t *dbs_sync, pmpkg_t *pkg,
 				alpm_list_free_inner(deps, (alpm_list_fn_free)_alpm_depmiss_free);
 				alpm_list_free(deps);
 				return(-1);
-			}  else {
+			} else {
 				_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "pulling dependency %s (needed by %s)\n",
 					  alpm_pkg_get_name(spkg), alpm_pkg_get_name(tpkg));
 				*packages = alpm_list_add(*packages, spkg);
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/error.c b/lib/libalpm/error.c
index 1f605806..01dc758c 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/error.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/error.c
@@ -106,6 +106,8 @@ const char SYMEXPORT *alpm_strerror(int err)
 		/* Packages */
 		case PM_ERR_PKG_NOT_FOUND:
 			return _("could not find or read package");
+		case PM_ERR_PKG_IGNORED:
+			return _("operation cancelled due to ignorepkg");
 		case PM_ERR_PKG_INVALID:
 			return _("invalid or corrupted package");
 		case PM_ERR_PKG_OPEN:
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/sync.c b/lib/libalpm/sync.c
index 49ea3c27..4cbdb621 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/sync.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/sync.c
@@ -297,7 +297,8 @@ int _alpm_sync_addtarget(pmtrans_t *trans, pmdb_t *db_local, alpm_list_t *dbs_sy
 	FREE(targline);
 
 	if(spkg == NULL) {
-		RET_ERR(PM_ERR_PKG_NOT_FOUND, -1);
+		/* pm_errno is set by _alpm_resolvedep */
+		return(-1);
 	}
 
 	if(_alpm_sync_find(trans->packages, alpm_pkg_get_name(spkg))) {
diff --git a/src/pacman/sync.c b/src/pacman/sync.c
index d8a63481..0e193551 100644
--- a/src/pacman/sync.c
+++ b/src/pacman/sync.c
@@ -574,11 +574,12 @@ static int sync_trans(alpm_list_t *targets)
 			char *targ = alpm_list_getdata(i);
 			if(alpm_trans_addtarget(targ) == -1) {
 				pmgrp_t *grp = NULL;
-				int found=0;
+				int found = 0;
 				alpm_list_t *j;
 
-				if(pm_errno == PM_ERR_TRANS_DUP_TARGET) {
-					/* just ignore duplicate targets */
+				if(pm_errno == PM_ERR_TRANS_DUP_TARGET || pm_errno == PM_ERR_PKG_IGNORED) {
+					/* just skip duplicate or ignored targets */
+					pm_printf(PM_LOG_WARNING, _("skipping target: %s\n"), targ);
 					continue;
 				}
 				if(pm_errno != PM_ERR_PKG_NOT_FOUND) {