diff --git a/PHPCI/Plugin/Composer.php b/PHPCI/Plugin/Composer.php
index bd5f6658..f0edc605 100644
--- a/PHPCI/Plugin/Composer.php
+++ b/PHPCI/Plugin/Composer.php
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ class Composer implements PHPCI\Plugin, PHPCI\ZeroConfigPlugin
     protected $phpci;
     protected $build;
     protected $nodev;
+    protected $ignorePlatformReqs;
 
     /**
      * Check if this plugin can be executed.
@@ -62,6 +63,7 @@ class Composer implements PHPCI\Plugin, PHPCI\ZeroConfigPlugin
         $this->action     = 'install';
         $this->preferDist = false;
         $this->nodev      = false;
+        $this->ignorePlatformReqs = false;
 
         if (array_key_exists('directory', $options)) {
             $this->directory = $path . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $options['directory'];
@@ -78,6 +80,10 @@ class Composer implements PHPCI\Plugin, PHPCI\ZeroConfigPlugin
         if (array_key_exists('no_dev', $options)) {
             $this->nodev = (bool)$options['no_dev'];
         }
+
+        if (array_key_exists('ignore_platform_reqs', $options)) {
+            $this->ignorePlatformReqs = (bool)$options['ignore_platform_reqs'];
+        }
     }
 
     /**
@@ -108,6 +114,11 @@ class Composer implements PHPCI\Plugin, PHPCI\ZeroConfigPlugin
             $cmd .= ' --no-dev';
         }
 
+        if ($this->ignorePlatformReqs) {
+            $this->phpci->log('Using --ignore-platform-reqs flag');
+            $cmd .= ' --ignore-platform-reqs';
+        }
+
         $cmd .= ' --working-dir="%s" %s';
 
         return $this->phpci->executeCommand($cmd, $this->directory, $this->action);