diff --git a/requirements/parser.py b/requirements/parser.py
index 6c92bc2..b12c294 100644
--- a/requirements/parser.py
+++ b/requirements/parser.py
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
 }
 
 
-def parse(reqstr: Union[str, TextIO]) -> Iterator[Requirement]:
+def parse(reqstr: Union[str, TextIO], skip_includes: bool=False) -> Iterator[Requirement]:
     """
     Parse a requirements file into a list of Requirements
 
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@ def parse(reqstr: Union[str, TextIO]) -> Iterator[Requirement]:
             # comments are lines that start with # only
             continue
         elif line.startswith('-r') or line.startswith('--requirement'):
+            if skip_includes:
+                continue
             _, new_filename = line.split()
             new_file_path = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(filename or '.'),
                                          new_filename)
diff --git a/tests/test_parser.py b/tests/test_parser.py
index 303c866..c071f74 100644
--- a/tests/test_parser.py
+++ b/tests/test_parser.py
@@ -44,6 +44,12 @@ def test_requirement_files(self) -> None:
 
             self._test_req_file(req_file=fn)
 
+    def test_skip_includes(self) -> None:
+        fp = join(TestParser._requirements_files_dir, 'recursive_1.txt')
+        with open(fp) as req_fh:
+            parsed = parse(req_fh, skip_includes=True)
+            self.assertEqual([p.line for p in parsed], ['Django==1.6'])
+
     def _test_req_file(self, req_file: str) -> None:
         fp = join(TestParser._requirements_files_dir, req_file)
         with open(fp) as req_fh: