diff --git a/docs/content/docs.md b/docs/content/docs.md
index 9be5038b8..50bc83cfa 100644
--- a/docs/content/docs.md
+++ b/docs/content/docs.md
@@ -2136,6 +2136,7 @@ For the filtering options
   * `--filter-from`
   * `--exclude`
   * `--exclude-from`
+  * `--exclude-if-present`
   * `--include`
   * `--include-from`
   * `--files-from`
diff --git a/docs/content/filtering.md b/docs/content/filtering.md
index f306accf5..de191ddc2 100644
--- a/docs/content/filtering.md
+++ b/docs/content/filtering.md
@@ -750,7 +750,9 @@ Useful for debugging.
 
 The `--exclude-if-present` flag controls whether a directory is
 within the scope of an rclone command based on the presence of a
-named file within it.
+named file within it. The flag can be repeated to check for
+multiple file names, presence of any of them will exclude the
+directory.
 
 This flag has a priority over other filter flags.
 
@@ -764,8 +766,6 @@ E.g. for the following directory structure:
 The command `rclone ls --exclude-if-present .ignore dir1` does
 not list `dir3`, `file3` or `.ignore`.
 
-`--exclude-if-present` can only be used once in an rclone command.
-
 ## Common pitfalls
 
 The most frequent filter support issues on
diff --git a/docs/content/flags.md b/docs/content/flags.md
index 69a0ea380..bfc367e63 100644
--- a/docs/content/flags.md
+++ b/docs/content/flags.md
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ These flags are available for every command.
       --error-on-no-transfer                 Sets exit code 9 if no files are transferred, useful in scripts
       --exclude stringArray                  Exclude files matching pattern
       --exclude-from stringArray             Read exclude patterns from file (use - to read from stdin)
-      --exclude-if-present string            Exclude directories if filename is present
+      --exclude-if-present stringArray       Exclude directories if filename is present
       --expect-continue-timeout duration     Timeout when using expect / 100-continue in HTTP (default 1s)
       --fast-list                            Use recursive list if available; uses more memory but fewer transactions
       --files-from stringArray               Read list of source-file names from file (use - to read from stdin)
diff --git a/fs/filter/filter.go b/fs/filter/filter.go
index 72a25462f..37071f9d2 100644
--- a/fs/filter/filter.go
+++ b/fs/filter/filter.go
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ type Opt struct {
 	FilterFrom     []string
 	ExcludeRule    []string
 	ExcludeFrom    []string
-	ExcludeFile    string
+	ExcludeFile    []string
 	IncludeRule    []string
 	IncludeFrom    []string
 	FilesFrom      []string
@@ -392,8 +392,10 @@ func (f *Filter) ListContainsExcludeFile(entries fs.DirEntries) bool {
 		obj, ok := entry.(fs.Object)
 		if ok {
 			basename := path.Base(obj.Remote())
-			if basename == f.Opt.ExcludeFile {
-				return true
+			for _, excludeFile := range f.Opt.ExcludeFile {
+				if basename == excludeFile {
+					return true
+				}
 			}
 		}
 	}
@@ -436,12 +438,14 @@ func (f *Filter) IncludeDirectory(ctx context.Context, fs fs.Fs) func(string) (b
 // empty string (for testing).
 func (f *Filter) DirContainsExcludeFile(ctx context.Context, fremote fs.Fs, remote string) (bool, error) {
 	if len(f.Opt.ExcludeFile) > 0 {
-		exists, err := fs.FileExists(ctx, fremote, path.Join(remote, f.Opt.ExcludeFile))
-		if err != nil {
-			return false, err
-		}
-		if exists {
-			return true, nil
+		for _, excludeFile := range f.Opt.ExcludeFile {
+			exists, err := fs.FileExists(ctx, fremote, path.Join(remote, excludeFile))
+			if err != nil {
+				return false, err
+			}
+			if exists {
+				return true, nil
+			}
 		}
 	}
 	return false, nil
diff --git a/fs/filter/filterflags/filterflags.go b/fs/filter/filterflags/filterflags.go
index e926fd894..3963e0c04 100644
--- a/fs/filter/filterflags/filterflags.go
+++ b/fs/filter/filterflags/filterflags.go
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ func AddFlags(flagSet *pflag.FlagSet) {
 	flags.StringArrayVarP(flagSet, &Opt.FilterFrom, "filter-from", "", nil, "Read filtering patterns from a file (use - to read from stdin)")
 	flags.StringArrayVarP(flagSet, &Opt.ExcludeRule, "exclude", "", nil, "Exclude files matching pattern")
 	flags.StringArrayVarP(flagSet, &Opt.ExcludeFrom, "exclude-from", "", nil, "Read exclude patterns from file (use - to read from stdin)")
-	flags.StringVarP(flagSet, &Opt.ExcludeFile, "exclude-if-present", "", "", "Exclude directories if filename is present")
+	flags.StringArrayVarP(flagSet, &Opt.ExcludeFile, "exclude-if-present", "", nil, "Exclude directories if filename is present")
 	flags.StringArrayVarP(flagSet, &Opt.IncludeRule, "include", "", nil, "Include files matching pattern")
 	flags.StringArrayVarP(flagSet, &Opt.IncludeFrom, "include-from", "", nil, "Read include patterns from file (use - to read from stdin)")
 	flags.StringArrayVarP(flagSet, &Opt.FilesFrom, "files-from", "", nil, "Read list of source-file names from file (use - to read from stdin)")
diff --git a/fs/operations/listdirsorted_test.go b/fs/operations/listdirsorted_test.go
index ae09ab4c9..5a4e3eeea 100644
--- a/fs/operations/listdirsorted_test.go
+++ b/fs/operations/listdirsorted_test.go
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ func TestListDirSorted(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, "sub dir/sub sub dir/", str(1))
 
 	// testing ignore file
-	fi.Opt.ExcludeFile = ".ignore"
+	fi.Opt.ExcludeFile = []string{".ignore"}
 
 	items, err = list.DirSorted(context.Background(), r.Fremote, false, "sub dir")
 	require.NoError(t, err)
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ func TestListDirSorted(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, "sub dir/ignore dir/.ignore", str(0))
 	assert.Equal(t, "sub dir/ignore dir/should be ignored", str(1))
 
-	fi.Opt.ExcludeFile = ""
+	fi.Opt.ExcludeFile = nil
 	items, err = list.DirSorted(context.Background(), r.Fremote, false, "sub dir/ignore dir")
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	require.Len(t, items, 2)
diff --git a/fs/operations/operations_test.go b/fs/operations/operations_test.go
index 363d88f59..83df26398 100644
--- a/fs/operations/operations_test.go
+++ b/fs/operations/operations_test.go
@@ -1309,7 +1309,7 @@ func TestOverlappingFilterCheckWithFilter(t *testing.T) {
 	fi, err := filter.NewFilter(nil)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	require.NoError(t, fi.Add(false, "*/exclude/"))
-	fi.Opt.ExcludeFile = ".ignore"
+	fi.Opt.ExcludeFile = []string{".ignore"}
 	ctx = filter.ReplaceConfig(ctx, fi)
 
 	src := &testFs{testFsInfo{name: "name", root: "root"}}
diff --git a/fs/sync/sync_test.go b/fs/sync/sync_test.go
index bd0772bd6..19e225fd9 100644
--- a/fs/sync/sync_test.go
+++ b/fs/sync/sync_test.go
@@ -1452,7 +1452,7 @@ func TestSyncOverlapWithFilter(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	require.NoError(t, fi.Add(false, "/rclone-sync-test/"))
 	require.NoError(t, fi.Add(false, "*/layer2/"))
-	fi.Opt.ExcludeFile = ".ignore"
+	fi.Opt.ExcludeFile = []string{".ignore"}
 	ctx = filter.ReplaceConfig(ctx, fi)
 
 	subRemoteName := r.FremoteName + "/rclone-sync-test"
diff --git a/fs/walk/walk.go b/fs/walk/walk.go
index 5f93cca49..b6ca99c32 100644
--- a/fs/walk/walk.go
+++ b/fs/walk/walk.go
@@ -507,10 +507,12 @@ func walkRDirTree(ctx context.Context, f fs.Fs, startPath string, includeAll boo
 				// Check if we need to prune a directory later.
 				if !includeAll && len(fi.Opt.ExcludeFile) > 0 {
 					basename := path.Base(x.Remote())
-					if basename == fi.Opt.ExcludeFile {
-						excludeDir := parentDir(x.Remote())
-						toPrune[excludeDir] = true
-						fs.Debugf(basename, "Excluded from sync (and deletion) based on exclude file")
+					for _, excludeFile := range fi.Opt.ExcludeFile {
+						if basename == excludeFile {
+							excludeDir := parentDir(x.Remote())
+							toPrune[excludeDir] = true
+							fs.Debugf(basename, "Excluded from sync (and deletion) based on exclude file")
+						}
 					}
 				}
 			case fs.Directory:
diff --git a/fs/walk/walk_test.go b/fs/walk/walk_test.go
index ecfa3ed7b..cbfa82ce8 100644
--- a/fs/walk/walk_test.go
+++ b/fs/walk/walk_test.go
@@ -736,13 +736,13 @@ b/c/d/
   e
 `, nil, "", -1, "ign", true},
 	} {
-		fi.Opt.ExcludeFile = test.excludeFile
+		fi.Opt.ExcludeFile = []string{test.excludeFile}
 		r, err := walkRDirTree(context.Background(), nil, test.root, test.includeAll, test.level, makeListRCallback(test.entries, test.err))
 		assert.Equal(t, test.err, err, fmt.Sprintf("%+v", test))
 		assert.Equal(t, test.want, r.String(), fmt.Sprintf("%+v", test))
 	}
 	// Set to default value, to avoid side effects
-	fi.Opt.ExcludeFile = ""
+	fi.Opt.ExcludeFile = nil
 }
 
 func TestListType(t *testing.T) {