diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 79c70c3..7873724 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ Dotbot makes installing your dotfiles as easy as `git clone $url && cd dotfiles
 - [Configuration](#configuration)
 - [Directives](#directives) ([Link](#link), [Create](#create), [Shell](#shell), [Clean](#clean), [Defaults](#defaults))
 - [Plugins](#plugins)
+- [Command-line Arguments](#command-line-arguments)
 - [Wiki][wiki]
 
 ---
@@ -380,8 +381,24 @@ plugins:
 
 ```
 
-Wiki
-----
+## Command-line Arguments
+
+Dotbot takes a number of command-line arguments; you can run Dotbot with
+`--help`, e.g. by running `./install --help`, to see the full list of options.
+Here, we highlight a couple that are particularly interesting.
+
+### `--only`
+
+You can call `./install --only [list of directives]`, such as `./install --only
+link`, and Dotbot will only run those sections of the config file.
+
+### `--except`
+
+You can call `./install --except [list of directives]`, such as `./install
+--except shell`, and Dotbot will run all the sections of the config file except
+the ones listed.
+
+## Wiki
 
 Check out the [Dotbot wiki][wiki] for more information, tips and tricks,
 user-contributed plugins, and more.
diff --git a/dotbot/cli.py b/dotbot/cli.py
index 7275c1c..4a443a6 100644
--- a/dotbot/cli.py
+++ b/dotbot/cli.py
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@ def add_options(parser):
         action='store_true', help='disable built-in plugins')
     parser.add_argument('--plugin-dir', action='append', dest='plugin_dirs', default=[],
         metavar='PLUGIN_DIR', help='load all plugins in PLUGIN_DIR')
+    parser.add_argument('--only', nargs='+',
+            help='only run specified directives', metavar='DIRECTIVE')
+    parser.add_argument('--except', nargs='+', dest='skip',
+            help='skip specified directives', metavar='DIRECTIVE')
     parser.add_argument('--no-color', dest='no_color', action='store_true',
         help='disable color output')
     parser.add_argument('--version', action='store_true',
@@ -78,7 +82,7 @@ def main():
             # default to directory of config file
             base_directory = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(options.config_file))
         os.chdir(base_directory)
-        dispatcher = Dispatcher(base_directory)
+        dispatcher = Dispatcher(base_directory, only=options.only, skip=options.skip)
         success = dispatcher.dispatch(tasks)
         if success:
             log.info('\n==> All tasks executed successfully')
diff --git a/dotbot/dispatcher.py b/dotbot/dispatcher.py
index b33cb42..a222086 100644
--- a/dotbot/dispatcher.py
+++ b/dotbot/dispatcher.py
@@ -4,10 +4,12 @@ from .messenger import Messenger
 from .context import Context
 
 class Dispatcher(object):
-    def __init__(self, base_directory):
+    def __init__(self, base_directory, only=None, skip=None):
         self._log = Messenger()
         self._setup_context(base_directory)
         self._load_plugins()
+        self._only = only
+        self._skip = skip
 
     def _setup_context(self, base_directory):
         path = os.path.abspath(
@@ -20,6 +22,10 @@ class Dispatcher(object):
         success = True
         for task in tasks:
             for action in task:
+                if self._only is not None and action not in self._only \
+                        or self._skip is not None and action in self._skip:
+                    self._log.info('Skipping action %s' % action)
+                    continue
                 handled = False
                 if action == 'defaults':
                     self._context.set_defaults(task[action]) # replace, not update
diff --git a/dotbot/plugins/clean.py b/dotbot/plugins/clean.py
index 82d77a6..09b11d8 100644
--- a/dotbot/plugins/clean.py
+++ b/dotbot/plugins/clean.py
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
-import os, dotbot
+import os
+import dotbot
+
 
 class Clean(dotbot.Plugin):
     '''
diff --git a/dotbot/plugins/create.py b/dotbot/plugins/create.py
index dc119da..015645a 100644
--- a/dotbot/plugins/create.py
+++ b/dotbot/plugins/create.py
@@ -1,8 +1,5 @@
 import os
-import glob
-import shutil
 import dotbot
-import subprocess
 
 
 class Create(dotbot.Plugin):
diff --git a/dotbot/plugins/link.py b/dotbot/plugins/link.py
index 82a61ce..6f2b562 100644
--- a/dotbot/plugins/link.py
+++ b/dotbot/plugins/link.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import os
 import glob
 import shutil
 import dotbot
+import dotbot.util
 import subprocess
 
 
@@ -105,14 +106,7 @@ class Link(dotbot.Plugin):
         return success
 
     def _test_success(self, command):
-        with open(os.devnull, 'w') as devnull:
-            ret = subprocess.call(
-                command,
-                shell=True,
-                stdout=devnull,
-                stderr=devnull,
-                executable=os.environ.get('SHELL'),
-            )
+        ret = dotbot.util.shell_command(command, cwd=self._context.base_directory())
         if ret != 0:
             self._log.debug('Test \'%s\' returned false' % command)
         return ret == 0
diff --git a/dotbot/plugins/shell.py b/dotbot/plugins/shell.py
index 06a9a89..3092f20 100644
--- a/dotbot/plugins/shell.py
+++ b/dotbot/plugins/shell.py
@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
-import os, subprocess, dotbot
+import os
+import subprocess
+import dotbot
+import dotbot.util
+
 
 class Shell(dotbot.Plugin):
     '''
@@ -19,48 +23,40 @@ class Shell(dotbot.Plugin):
     def _process_commands(self, data):
         success = True
         defaults = self._context.defaults().get('shell', {})
-        with open(os.devnull, 'w') as devnull:
-            for item in data:
-                stdin = stdout = stderr = devnull
-                quiet = False
-                if defaults.get('stdin', False) == True:
-                    stdin = None
-                if defaults.get('stdout', False) == True:
-                    stdout = None
-                if defaults.get('stderr', False) == True:
-                    stderr = None
-                if defaults.get('quiet', False) == True:
-                    quiet = True
-                if isinstance(item, dict):
-                    cmd = item['command']
-                    msg = item.get('description', None)
-                    if 'stdin' in item:
-                        stdin = None if item['stdin'] == True else devnull
-                    if 'stdout' in item:
-                        stdout = None if item['stdout'] == True else devnull
-                    if 'stderr' in item:
-                        stderr = None if item['stderr'] == True else devnull
-                    if 'quiet' in item:
-                        quiet = True if item['quiet'] == True else False
-                elif isinstance(item, list):
-                    cmd = item[0]
-                    msg = item[1] if len(item) > 1 else None
-                else:
-                    cmd = item
-                    msg = None
-                if msg is None:
-                    self._log.lowinfo(cmd)
-                elif quiet:
-                    self._log.lowinfo('%s' % msg)
-                else:
-                    self._log.lowinfo('%s [%s]' % (msg, cmd))
-                executable = os.environ.get('SHELL')
-                ret = subprocess.call(cmd, shell=True, stdin=stdin, stdout=stdout,
-                    stderr=stderr, cwd=self._context.base_directory(),
-                    executable=executable)
-                if ret != 0:
-                    success = False
-                    self._log.warning('Command [%s] failed' % cmd)
+        for item in data:
+            stdin = defaults.get('stdin', False)
+            stdout = defaults.get('stdout', False)
+            stderr = defaults.get('stderr', False)
+            quiet = defaults.get('quiet', False)
+            if isinstance(item, dict):
+                cmd = item['command']
+                msg = item.get('description', None)
+                stdin = item.get('stdin', stdin)
+                stdout = item.get('stdout', stdout)
+                stderr = item.get('stderr', stderr)
+                quiet = item.get('quiet', quiet)
+            elif isinstance(item, list):
+                cmd = item[0]
+                msg = item[1] if len(item) > 1 else None
+            else:
+                cmd = item
+                msg = None
+            if msg is None:
+                self._log.lowinfo(cmd)
+            elif quiet:
+                self._log.lowinfo('%s' % msg)
+            else:
+                self._log.lowinfo('%s [%s]' % (msg, cmd))
+            ret = dotbot.util.shell_command(
+                cmd,
+                cwd=self._context.base_directory(),
+                enable_stdin=stdin,
+                enable_stdout=stdout,
+                enable_stderr=stderr
+            )
+            if ret != 0:
+                success = False
+                self._log.warning('Command [%s] failed' % cmd)
         if success:
             self._log.info('All commands have been executed')
         else:
diff --git a/dotbot/util/__init__.py b/dotbot/util/__init__.py
index e69de29..0c5a8f5 100644
--- a/dotbot/util/__init__.py
+++ b/dotbot/util/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+from .common import shell_command
diff --git a/dotbot/util/common.py b/dotbot/util/common.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d1e2000
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dotbot/util/common.py
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+import os
+import subprocess
+import platform
+
+
+def shell_command(command, cwd=None, enable_stdin=False, enable_stdout=False, enable_stderr=False):
+    with open(os.devnull, 'w') as devnull_w, open(os.devnull, 'r') as devnull_r:
+        stdin = None if enable_stdin else devnull_r
+        stdout = None if enable_stdout else devnull_w
+        stderr = None if enable_stderr else devnull_w
+        executable = os.environ.get('SHELL')
+        if platform.system() == 'Windows':
+            # We avoid setting the executable kwarg on Windows because it does
+            # not have the desired effect when combined with shell=True. It
+            # will result in the correct program being run (e.g. bash), but it
+            # will be invoked with a '/c' argument instead of a '-c' argument,
+            # which it won't understand.
+            #
+            # See https://github.com/anishathalye/dotbot/issues/219 and
+            # https://bugs.python.org/issue40467.
+            #
+            # This means that complex commands that require Bash's parsing
+            # won't work; a workaround for this is to write the command as
+            # `bash -c "..."`.
+            executable = None
+        return subprocess.call(
+            command,
+            shell=True,
+            executable=executable,
+            stdin=stdin,
+            stdout=stdout,
+            stderr=stderr,
+            cwd=cwd
+        )
diff --git a/test/tests/except-multi.bash b/test/tests/except-multi.bash
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4193e66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/tests/except-multi.bash
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+test_description='--except with multiple arguments'
+. '../test-lib.bash'
+
+test_expect_success 'setup' '
+ln -s ${DOTFILES}/nonexistent ~/bad && touch ${DOTFILES}/y
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'run' '
+run_dotbot --except clean shell <<EOF
+- clean: ["~"]
+- shell:
+  - echo "x" > ~/x
+- link:
+    ~/y: y
+EOF
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'test' '
+[ "$(readlink ~/bad | cut -d/ -f4-)" = "dotfiles/nonexistent" ] &&
+    ! test -f ~/x && test -f ~/y
+'
diff --git a/test/tests/except.bash b/test/tests/except.bash
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..356eaef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/tests/except.bash
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+test_description='--except'
+. '../test-lib.bash'
+
+test_expect_success 'setup' '
+echo "apple" > ${DOTFILES}/x
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'run' '
+run_dotbot --except link <<EOF
+- shell:
+  - echo "pear" > ~/y
+- link:
+    ~/x: x
+EOF
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'test' '
+grep "pear" ~/y && ! test -f ~/x
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'run 2' '
+run_dotbot --except shell <<EOF
+- shell:
+  - echo "pear" > ~/z
+- link:
+    ~/x: x
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'test' '
+grep "apple" ~/x && ! test -f ~/z
+'
diff --git a/test/tests/only-multi.bash b/test/tests/only-multi.bash
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e8d8362
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/tests/only-multi.bash
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+test_description='--only with multiple arguments'
+. '../test-lib.bash'
+
+test_expect_success 'setup' '
+ln -s ${DOTFILES}/nonexistent ~/bad && touch ${DOTFILES}/y
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'run' '
+run_dotbot --only clean shell <<EOF
+- clean: ["~"]
+- shell:
+  - echo "x" > ~/x
+- link:
+    ~/y: y
+EOF
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'test' '
+! test -f ~/bad && grep "x" ~/x && ! test -f ~/y
+'
diff --git a/test/tests/only.bash b/test/tests/only.bash
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5222881
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/tests/only.bash
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+test_description='--only'
+. '../test-lib.bash'
+
+test_expect_success 'setup' '
+echo "apple" > ${DOTFILES}/x
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'run' '
+run_dotbot --only shell <<EOF
+- shell:
+  - echo "pear" > ~/y
+- link:
+    ~/x: x
+EOF
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'test' '
+grep "pear" ~/y && ! test -f ~/x
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'run 2' '
+run_dotbot --only link <<EOF
+- shell:
+  - echo "pear" > ~/z
+- link:
+    ~/x: x
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'test' '
+grep "apple" ~/x && ! test -f ~/z
+'