diff --git a/bin/loman.py b/bin/loman.py
index c52a5b3d8c..9a3bd3cacf 100755
--- a/bin/loman.py
+++ b/bin/loman.py
@@ -97,6 +97,9 @@ def main(argv):
   parser.add_option('-f', '--file', dest='local_manifest',
                     default='%s/local_manifest.xml' % repo_dir,
                     help='Non-default manifest file to read.')
+  parser.add_option('-m', '--main', dest='main_manifest',
+                    default='%s/manifest.xml' % repo_dir,
+                    help='Main manifest file to read.')
   parser.add_option('-d', '--default', dest='full_manifest',
                     default='%s/manifests/full.xml' % repo_dir,
                     help='Default manifest file to read.')
@@ -110,14 +113,17 @@ def main(argv):
   name = args[0]
 
   local_tree = _ReadManifest(options.local_manifest)
+  main_tree = _ReadManifest(options.main_manifest)
   full_tree = _ReadManifest(options.full_manifest)
 
-  project_element = full_tree.GetProject(name)
-  if project_element == None:
-    Die('No project named, %s, in the default manifest.' % name)
-  success = local_tree.AddWorkonProjectElement(project_element)
-  if not success:
-    Die('name "%s" already exits with a different path.' % name)
+  # Only add this project to local_manifest.xml if not in manifest.xml
+  if main_tree.GetProject(name) == None:
+    project_element = full_tree.GetProject(name)
+    if project_element == None:
+      Die('No project named, %s, in the default manifest.' % name)
+    success = local_tree.AddWorkonProjectElement(project_element)
+    if not success:
+      Die('name "%s" already exits with a different path.' % name)
 
   try:
     print >> open(options.local_manifest, 'w'), local_tree.ToString()
diff --git a/bin/loman_unittest.py b/bin/loman_unittest.py
index 5788f0378a..924d08a08f 100755
--- a/bin/loman_unittest.py
+++ b/bin/loman_unittest.py
@@ -80,9 +80,13 @@ class MainTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
   def setUp(self):
     self.utf8 = "<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>\n"
-    self.tiny_manifest = '<manifest>\n</manifest>'
+    self.tiny_manifest = self.utf8 + '<manifest>\n</manifest>\n'
     self.stderr = sys.stderr
     sys.stderr = StringIO.StringIO()
+    self.main = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile('w')
+    print >> self.main, '%s' % self.tiny_manifest
+    self.main.flush()
+    os.fsync(self.main.fileno())
 
   def tearDown(self):
     sys.stderr = self.stderr
@@ -110,10 +114,11 @@ class MainTest(unittest.TestCase):
     default.flush()
     os.fsync(default.fileno())
     temp = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile('w')
-    print >> temp, '<manifest>\n</manifest>'
+    print >> temp, '%s' % self.tiny_manifest
     temp.flush()
     os.fsync(temp.fileno())
     loman.main(['loman', 'add', '--workon', '-f', temp.name,
+                '-m', self.main.name,
                 '-d', default.name, 'foo'])
     self.assertEqual(
       open(temp.name, 'r').read(),
@@ -133,6 +138,7 @@ class MainTest(unittest.TestCase):
     temp.flush()
     os.fsync(temp.fileno())
     loman.main(['loman', 'add', '--workon', '-f', temp.name,
+                '-m', self.main.name,
                 '-d', default.name, 'foo'])
 
   def testAddDup(self):
@@ -150,8 +156,27 @@ class MainTest(unittest.TestCase):
     os.fsync(temp.fileno())
     self.assertRaises(SystemExit, loman.main,
                       ['loman', 'add', '--workon', '-f', temp.name,
+                       '-m', self.main.name,
                        '-d', default.name, 'foo'])
 
+  def testAddDupInMain(self):
+    default = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile('w')
+    print >> default, '<manifest>\n' \
+      '<project name="foo" path="path/to/foo" />\n' \
+      '</manifest>\n'
+    default.flush()
+    os.fsync(default.fileno())
+    temp = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile('w')
+    print >> temp, '%s' % self.tiny_manifest
+    temp.flush()
+    os.fsync(temp.fileno())
+    loman.main(['loman', 'add', '--workon', '-f', temp.name,
+                '-m', default.name,
+                '-d', default.name, 'foo'])
+    self.assertEqual(
+      open(temp.name, 'r').read(),
+      self.tiny_manifest)
+
   def testAddNonexistant(self):
     default = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile('w')
     print >> default, '<manifest>\n' \
@@ -165,6 +190,7 @@ class MainTest(unittest.TestCase):
     os.fsync(temp.fileno())
     self.assertRaises(SystemExit, loman.main,
                       ['loman', 'add', '--workon', '-f', temp.name,
+                       '-m', self.main.name,
                        '-d', default.name, 'bar'])