diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 1fc22838..cf8b8740 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -257,6 +257,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "regex",
  "remain",
  "serde",
+ "serde_json",
  "similar-asserts",
  "snapbox",
  "tempfile",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 0e6f4aed..5d8cee96 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ octocrab = "0.32"
 once_cell = "1.18"
 regex = "1.10"
 remain = "0.2"
+serde = "1.0"
+serde_json = "1.0"
 tempfile = "3.8"
 termcolor = "1.3"
 tokio = "1.34"
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index daaa44d8..575984b0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -69,6 +69,15 @@ irrecoverable errors occurred, 1 if unmaintained packages were found, and 2 if a
 error occurred.
 ```
 
+## Ignoring packages
+
+If a workspace's `Cargo.toml` file includes a `workspace.metadata.unmaintained.ignore` array, all packages named therein will be ignored. Example:
+
+```toml
+[package.metadata.unmaintained]
+ignore = ["proc-macro-error"]
+```
+
 ## Known problems
 
 Repositories whose urls change across versions may be incorrectly reported as unmaintained.
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index e9c589f4..3b755e95 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ use once_cell::sync::Lazy;
 use regex::Regex;
 use std::{
     cell::RefCell,
-    collections::HashMap,
+    collections::{HashMap, HashSet},
     env::{args, var},
     ffi::OsStr,
     fs::{read_to_string, remove_dir_all, File},
@@ -417,10 +417,16 @@ fn unmaintained() -> Result<bool> {
 fn filter_packages(metadata: &Metadata) -> Result<Vec<&Package>> {
     let mut packages = Vec::new();
 
+    let ignored_packages = ignored_packages(metadata)?;
+
     // smoelius: If a project relies on multiple versions of a package, check only the latest one.
     let metadata_latest_version_map = build_metadata_latest_version_map(metadata);
 
     for pkg in &metadata.packages {
+        if ignored_packages.contains(&pkg.name) {
+            continue;
+        }
+
         #[allow(clippy::panic)]
         let version = metadata_latest_version_map
             .get(&pkg.name)
@@ -457,6 +463,22 @@ fn filter_packages(metadata: &Metadata) -> Result<Vec<&Package>> {
     Ok(packages)
 }
 
+#[derive(serde::Deserialize)]
+struct UnmaintainedMetadata {
+    ignored: Option<Vec<String>>,
+}
+
+pub fn ignored_packages(metadata: &Metadata) -> Result<HashSet<String>> {
+    let serde_json::Value::Object(object) = &metadata.workspace_metadata else {
+        return Ok(HashSet::default());
+    };
+    let Some(value) = object.get("unmaintained") else {
+        return Ok(HashSet::default());
+    };
+    let metadata = serde_json::value::from_value::<UnmaintainedMetadata>(value.clone())?;
+    Ok(metadata.ignored.unwrap_or_default().into_iter().collect())
+}
+
 fn build_metadata_latest_version_map(metadata: &Metadata) -> HashMap<String, Version> {
     let mut map: HashMap<String, Version> = HashMap::new();
 
diff --git a/tests/ignored.rs b/tests/ignored.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bf0bdf54
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/ignored.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+#![cfg_attr(dylint_lib = "general", allow(crate_wide_allow))]
+#![cfg_attr(dylint_lib = "try_io_result", allow(try_io_result))]
+
+use anyhow::{ensure, Result};
+use snapbox::cmd::cargo_bin;
+use std::{fs::OpenOptions, io::Write, path::Path, process::Command};
+use tempfile::tempdir;
+
+#[test]
+fn ignored() -> Result<()> {
+    let tempdir = tempdir()?;
+
+    let status = Command::new("cargo")
+        .args(["init", "--name=test-package"])
+        .current_dir(&tempdir)
+        .status()?;
+    ensure!(status.success());
+
+    let mut manifest = OpenOptions::new()
+        .append(true)
+        .open(tempdir.path().join("Cargo.toml"))?;
+    writeln!(manifest, r#"lz4-compress = "*""#)?;
+
+    let status = cargo_unmaintained(tempdir.path()).status()?;
+    ensure!(!status.success());
+
+    writeln!(
+        manifest,
+        r#"
+[workspace.metadata.unmaintained]
+ignored = ["lz4-compress"]
+"#
+    )?;
+
+    let status = cargo_unmaintained(tempdir.path()).status()?;
+    ensure!(status.success());
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+fn cargo_unmaintained(dir: &Path) -> Command {
+    let mut command = Command::new(cargo_bin("cargo-unmaintained"));
+    command
+        .args(["unmaintained", "--fail-fast"])
+        .current_dir(dir);
+    command
+}