diff --git a/docs/USER-DOCUMENTATION.md b/docs/USER-DOCUMENTATION.md
index 2285c795ad..cb361c856e 100644
--- a/docs/USER-DOCUMENTATION.md
+++ b/docs/USER-DOCUMENTATION.md
@@ -130,21 +130,6 @@ run Etcher on a GNU/Linux system.
 
 - liblzma (for xz decompression)
 
-Simulate an update alert
-------------------------
-
-You can set the `ETCHER_FAKE_S3_LATEST_VERSION` environment variable to a valid
-semver version (greater than the current version) to trick the application into
-thinking that what you put there is the latest available version, therefore
-causing the update notification dialog to be presented at startup.
-
-Note that the value of the variable will be ignored if it doesn't match the
-release type of the current application version. For example, setting the
-variable to a production version (e.g. `ETCHER_FAKE_S3_LATEST_VERSION=2.0.0`)
-will be ignored if you're running a snapshot build, and vice-versa.
-
-See [`PUBLISHING.md`][publishing] for more details about release types.
-
 Recovering broken drives
 ------------------------
 
diff --git a/lib/gui/etcher.js b/lib/gui/etcher.js
index 00047ab0d6..66187ced59 100644
--- a/lib/gui/etcher.js
+++ b/lib/gui/etcher.js
@@ -21,16 +21,25 @@ const path = require('path')
 const _ = require('lodash')
 const { autoUpdater } = require('electron-updater')
 const Bluebird = require('bluebird')
+const semver = require('semver')
 const EXIT_CODES = require('../shared/exit-codes')
 const buildWindowMenu = require('./menu')
 const settings = require('./app/models/settings')
 const analytics = require('./app/modules/analytics')
 const { getConfig } = require('../shared/utils')
+const { version, packageType } = require('../../package.json')
 /* eslint-disable lodash/prefer-lodash-method */
+/* eslint-disable no-magic-numbers */
 
 const config = settings.getDefaults()
-
 const configUrl = settings.get('configUrl') || 'https://balena.io/etcher/static/config.json'
+const updatablePackageTypes = [
+  'appimage',
+  'nsis',
+  'dmg'
+]
+const packageUpdatable = _.includes(updatablePackageTypes, packageType)
+let packageUpdated = false
 
 /**
  *
@@ -40,14 +49,19 @@ const configUrl = settings.get('configUrl') || 'https://balena.io/etcher/static/
 const checkForUpdates = async (interval) => {
   // We use a while loop instead of a setInterval to preserve
   // async execution time between each function call
-  while (true) {
-    try {
-      const release = await autoUpdater.checkForUpdates()
-      if (release.updateInfo.stagingPercentage) {
-        await autoUpdater.downloadUpdate()
+  while (!packageUpdated) {
+    if (settings.get('updatesEnabled')) {
+      try {
+        const release = await autoUpdater.checkForUpdates()
+        const isOutdated = semver.compare(release.updateInfo.version, version) > 0
+        const shouldUpdate = parseInt(release.updateInfo.stagingPercentage, 10) > 0
+        if (shouldUpdate && isOutdated) {
+          await autoUpdater.downloadUpdate()
+          packageUpdated = true
+        }
+      } catch (err) {
+        analytics.logException(err)
       }
-    } catch (err) {
-      analytics.logException(err)
     }
     await Bluebird.delay(interval)
   }
@@ -110,7 +124,7 @@ const createMainWindow = () => {
     autoUpdater.on('error', (err) => {
       analytics.logException(err)
     })
-    if (settings.get('updatesEnabled')) {
+    if (packageUpdatable) {
       try {
         const onlineConfig = await getConfig(configUrl)
         const autoUpdaterConfig = _.get(onlineConfig, [ 'autoUpdates', 'autoUpdaterConfig' ], {
diff --git a/npm-shrinkwrap.json b/npm-shrinkwrap.json
index ca1ab375f1..0378d125ed 100644
--- a/npm-shrinkwrap.json
+++ b/npm-shrinkwrap.json
@@ -14377,4 +14377,4 @@
       }
     }
   }
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file