diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 157d60ea..8668abcf 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,11 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file
 automatically by Versionist. DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE MANUALLY!
 This project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/).
 
+## v7.1.17 - 2018-03-19
+
+* Document that the update lock can be forced on reboots and shutdowns #591 [Pablo Carranza Velez]
+* Force reboots and shutdowns if lock override is enabled #591 [Pablo Carranza Velez]
+
 ## v7.1.16 - 2018-03-16
 
 * In /v1/apps/:appId/stop, wait for the service to exit before responding #593 [Pablo Carranza Velez]
diff --git a/docs/API.md b/docs/API.md
index 82c54de2..09cfb3df 100644
--- a/docs/API.md
+++ b/docs/API.md
@@ -108,7 +108,9 @@ $ curl -X POST --header "Content-Type:application/json" \
 
 ### POST /v1/reboot
 
-Reboots the device
+Reboots the device. This will first try to stop applications, and fail if there is an update lock.
+An optional "force" parameter in the body overrides the lock when true (and the lock can also be overridden from
+the dashboard).
 
 When successful, responds with 202 accepted and a JSON object:
 ```json
@@ -119,6 +121,9 @@ When successful, responds with 202 accepted and a JSON object:
 ```
 (This is implemented in Go)
 
+#### Request body
+Can contain a `force` property, which if set to `true` will cause the update lock to be overridden.
+
 #### Examples:
 From the app on the device:
 ```bash
@@ -142,7 +147,9 @@ $ curl -X POST --header "Content-Type:application/json" \
 
 ### POST /v1/shutdown
 
-**Dangerous**. Shuts down the device.
+**Dangerous**. Shuts down the device. This will first try to stop applications, and fail if there is an update lock.
+An optional "force" parameter in the body overrides the lock when true (and the lock can also be overridden from
+the dashboard).
 
 When successful, responds with 202 accepted and a JSON object:
 ```json
@@ -153,6 +160,9 @@ When successful, responds with 202 accepted and a JSON object:
 ```
 (This is implemented in Go)
 
+#### Request body
+Can contain a `force` property, which if set to `true` will cause the update lock to be overridden.
+
 #### Examples:
 From the app on the device:
 ```bash
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 09c76493..5b97f03a 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "resin-supervisor",
   "description": "This is resin.io's Supervisor, a program that runs on IoT devices and has the task of running user Apps (which are Docker containers), and updating them as Resin's API informs it to.",
-  "version": "7.1.16",
+  "version": "7.1.17",
   "license": "Apache-2.0",
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
diff --git a/src/device-state.coffee b/src/device-state.coffee
index dfca9cee..b3ec2800 100644
--- a/src/device-state.coffee
+++ b/src/device-state.coffee
@@ -45,9 +45,11 @@ createDeviceStateRouter = (deviceState) ->
 	router.use(bodyParser.urlencoded(extended: true))
 	router.use(bodyParser.json())
 
-	router.post '/v1/reboot', (req, res) ->
-		force = validation.checkTruthy(req.body.force)
-		deviceState.executeStepAction({ action: 'reboot' }, { force })
+	rebootOrShutdown = (req, res, action) ->
+		deviceState.config.get('lockOverride')
+		.then (lockOverride) ->
+			force = validation.checkTruthy(req.body.force) or validation.checkTruthy(lockOverride)
+			deviceState.executeStepAction({ action }, { force })
 		.then (response) ->
 			res.status(202).json(response)
 		.catch (err) ->
@@ -57,17 +59,11 @@ createDeviceStateRouter = (deviceState) ->
 				status = 500
 			res.status(status).json({ Data: '', Error: err?.message or err or 'Unknown error' })
 
+	router.post '/v1/reboot', (req, res) ->
+		rebootOrShutdown(req, res, 'reboot')
+
 	router.post '/v1/shutdown', (req, res) ->
-		force = validation.checkTruthy(req.body.force)
-		deviceState.executeStepAction({ action: 'shutdown' }, { force })
-		.then (response) ->
-			res.status(202).json(response)
-		.catch (err) ->
-			if err instanceof updateLock.UpdatesLockedError
-				status = 423
-			else
-				status = 500
-			res.status(status).json({ Data: '', Error: err?.message or err or 'Unknown error' })
+		rebootOrShutdown(req, res, 'shutdown')
 
 	router.get '/v1/device/host-config', (req, res) ->
 		hostConfig.get()