diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e2781e2..b1b7118 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,7 +7,11 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.
 
 <!-- markdownlint-disable MD024 -->
 
-## [Unreleased] (date goes here)
+## [6.3.0] (2020-02-24)
+
+### Added
+
+- `--preserve` to preserve npm and npx during install of node ([#587])
 
 ## [6.2.0] (2020-01-29)
 
@@ -240,6 +244,7 @@ Only minor functional changes, but technically could break scripts relying on sp
 [#560]: https://github.com/tj/n/issues/560
 [#562]: https://github.com/tj/n/issues/562
 [#574]: https://github.com/tj/n/issues/574
+[#587]: https://github.com/tj/n/issues/587
 [#588]: https://github.com/tj/n/issues/588
 [#590]: https://github.com/tj/n/issues/590
 [#593]: https://github.com/tj/n/issues/593
@@ -249,6 +254,7 @@ Only minor functional changes, but technically could break scripts relying on sp
 <!-- reference links for releases -->
 
 [Unreleased]: https://github.com/tj/n/compare/master...develop
+[6.3.0]: https://github.com/tj/n/compare/v6.2.0...v6.3.0
 [6.2.0]: https://github.com/tj/n/compare/v6.1.3...v6.2.0
 [6.1.3]: https://github.com/tj/n/compare/v6.0.2...v6.1.3
 [6.1.2]: https://github.com/tj/n/compare/v6.0.1...v6.1.2
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 234d53f..0e41b3c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ Node.js version management: no subshells, no profile setup, no convoluted API, j
     - [Specifying Node Versions](#specifying-node-versions)
     - [Removing Versions](#removing-versions)
     - [Using Downloaded Node Versions Without Reinstalling](#using-downloaded-node-versions-without-reinstalling)
+    - [Preserving npm](#preserving-npm)
     - [Miscellaneous](#miscellaneous)
     - [Custom Source](#custom-source)
     - [Custom Architecture](#custom-architecture)
@@ -150,6 +151,28 @@ modules this way.)
 
     n exec 10 my-script --fast test
 
+## Preserving npm
+
+A `node` install normally includes `npm` as well, but you may wish to preserve an updated `npm` and `npx` leaving them out of the install using `--preserve` (requires rsync):
+
+    $ npm install -g npm@latest
+    ...
+    $ npm --version
+    6.13.7
+    $ n -p 8
+       installed : v8.17.0
+    $ npm --version
+    6.13.7
+
+You can make this the default by setting `N_PRESERVE_NPM` to a non-empty string.
+
+    export N_PRESERVE_NPM=1
+
+You can be explicit to get the desired behaviour whatever the environment variable:
+
+    n --preserve nightly
+    n --no-preserve latest
+
 ## Miscellaneous
 
 Command line help can be obtained from `n --help`.
@@ -211,6 +234,7 @@ In brief:
 - `N_NODE_DOWNLOAD_MIRROR`: See [Custom source](#custom-source)
 - support for [NO_COLOR](http://no-color.org) and [CLICOLOR=0](https://bixense.com/clicolors) for controlling use of ANSI color codes
 - `N_MAX_REMOTE_MATCHES` to change the default `ls-remote` maximum of 20 matching versions
+- `N_PRESERVE_NPM`: See [Preserving npm](#preserving-npm)
 
 ## How It Works
 
diff --git a/bin/n b/bin/n
index fb32a51..45b394a 100755
--- a/bin/n
+++ b/bin/n
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ function echo_red() {
 # Setup and state
 #
 
-VERSION="6.2.1-0"
+VERSION="6.3.0"
 
 N_PREFIX="${N_PREFIX-/usr/local}"
 N_PREFIX=${N_PREFIX%/}
@@ -307,6 +307,7 @@ Options:
 
   -V, --version         Output version of n
   -h, --help            Display help information
+  -p, --preserve        Preserve npm and npx during install of node (requires rsync)
   -q, --quiet           Disable curl output (if available)
   -d, --download        Download only
   -a, --arch            Override system architecture
@@ -567,14 +568,16 @@ activate() {
   local original_node="$(command -v node)"
 
   # Remove old npm to avoid potential issues with simple overwrite.
-  if test -d "$dir/lib/node_modules/npm"; then
+  if [[ -z "${N_PRESERVE_NPM}" && -d "$dir/lib/node_modules/npm" ]]; then
     if test -d "$N_PREFIX/lib/node_modules/npm"; then
       rm -rf "$N_PREFIX/lib/node_modules/npm"
     fi
   fi
   # Copy (lib before bin to avoid error messages on Darwin when cp over dangling link)
   for subdir in lib bin include share; do
-    if test -L "$N_PREFIX/$subdir"; then
+    if [[ -n "${N_PRESERVE_NPM}" ]]; then
+      rsync --recursive --archive --keep-dirlinks --exclude=npm --exclude=npx "${dir}/${subdir}" "${N_PREFIX}"
+    elif test -L "$N_PREFIX/$subdir"; then
       find "$dir/$subdir" -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -exec cp -fR "{}" "$N_PREFIX/$subdir" \;
     else
       cp -fR "$dir/$subdir" "$N_PREFIX"
@@ -592,7 +595,7 @@ activate() {
     local npm_version_str=""
     local installed_npm="${N_PREFIX}/bin/npm"
     local active_npm="$(command -v npm)"
-    if [[ -e "${active_npm}" && -e "${installed_npm}" && "${active_npm}" = "${installed_npm}" ]]; then
+    if [[ -z "${N_PRESERVE_NPM}" && -e "${active_npm}" && -e "${installed_npm}" && "${active_npm}" = "${installed_npm}" ]]; then
       npm_version_str=" (with npm $(npm --version))"
     fi
 
@@ -1091,10 +1094,16 @@ function show_diagnostics() {
     echo_red "Neither curl nor wget found. Need one of them for downloads."
   fi
 
+  printf "\nrsync:\n"
+  if command -v rsync &> /dev/null; then
+    command -v rsync && rsync --version
+  else
+    printf "rsync not found. (Needed for preserving npm during install.)\n"
+  fi
+
   printf "\nuname\n"
   uname -a
 
-
   printf "\n\nSETTINGS\n"
 
   printf "\nn\n"
@@ -1103,6 +1112,7 @@ function show_diagnostics() {
   echo "install destination: ${N_PREFIX}"
   [[ -n "${N_PREFIX}" ]] && echo "PATH: ${PATH}"
   echo "ls-remote max matches: ${N_MAX_REMOTE_MATCHES}"
+   [[ -n "${N_PRESERVE_NPM}" ]] && echo "installs preserve npm by default"
 
   printf "\nProxy\n"
   # disable "var is referenced but not assigned": https://github.com/koalaman/shellcheck/wiki/SC2154
@@ -1241,6 +1251,8 @@ while [[ $# -ne 0 ]]; do
     -q|--quiet) set_quiet ;;
     -d|--download) ACTIVATE=false ;;
     --insecure) set_insecure ;;
+    -p|--preserve) N_PRESERVE_NPM="true" ;;
+    --no-preserve) N_PRESERVE_NPM="" ;;
     --use-xz) N_USE_XZ="true" ;;
     --no-use-xz) N_USE_XZ="false" ;;
     --latest) display_remote_versions latest; exit ;;
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index fcd0b86..c1568a1 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "n",
-  "version": "6.2.1-0",
+  "version": "6.3.0",
   "lockfileVersion": 1,
   "requires": true,
   "dependencies": {
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index fdc46d6..3da23de 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "n",
   "description": "Interactively Manage All Your Node Versions",
-  "version": "6.2.1-0",
+  "version": "6.3.0",
   "author": "TJ Holowaychuk <tj@vision-media.ca>",
   "homepage": "https://github.com/tj/n",
   "bugs": "https://github.com/tj/n/issues",
diff --git a/test/tests/install-options.bats b/test/tests/install-options.bats
index c8d0ebf..60447ea 100644
--- a/test/tests/install-options.bats
+++ b/test/tests/install-options.bats
@@ -33,4 +33,33 @@ function teardown() {
 }
 
 
+# mostly --preserve, but also variations with i/install and lts/numeric
+@test "--preserve variations # (4 installs)" {
+  local ARGON_VERSION="v4.9.1"
+  local ARGON_NPM_VERSION="2.15.11"
+  local LTS_VERSION="$(display_remote_version lts)"
+
+  n ${ARGON_VERSION}
+  run "${N_PREFIX}/bin/node" --version
+  [ "$output" = "${ARGON_VERSION}" ]
+  run "${N_PREFIX}/bin/npm" --version
+  [ "$output" = "${ARGON_NPM_VERSION}" ]
+
+  n --preserve "${LTS_VERSION}"
+  run "${N_PREFIX}/bin/node" --version
+  [ "$output" = "v${LTS_VERSION}" ]
+  run "${N_PREFIX}/bin/npm" --version
+  [ "$output" = "${ARGON_NPM_VERSION}" ]
+
+  N_PRESERVE_NPM=1 n "${LTS_VERSION}"
+  run "${N_PREFIX}/bin/npm" --version
+  [ "$output" = "${ARGON_NPM_VERSION}" ]
+
+  N_PRESERVE_NPM=1 n --no-preserve "${LTS_VERSION}"
+  run "${N_PREFIX}/bin/npm" --version
+  [ "$output" != "${ARGON_NPM_VERSION}" ]
+}
+
+
+
 # ToDo: --arch