diff --git a/doc/gpg.texi b/doc/gpg.texi
--- a/doc/gpg.texi
+++ b/doc/gpg.texi
@@ -421,7 +421,6 @@
 deleted; if the exclamation mark is used with the fingerprint of the
 primary key only the secret part of the primary key is deleted.
 
-
 @item --delete-secret-and-public-key @var{name}
 @opindex delete-secret-and-public-key
 Same as @option{--delete-key}, but if a secret key exists, it will be
@@ -429,6 +428,18 @@
 The option @option{--yes} can be used to advice gpg-agent not to
 request a confirmation.
 
+@item --delete-secret-subkeys @var{name}
+@opindex delete-secret-subkeys
+Remove subkeys from the secret keyring. In batch mode the subkey must be
+specified by fingerprint. The option @option{--yes} can be used to
+advice gpg-agent not to request a confirmation. This extra
+pre-caution is done because @command{@gpgname} can't be sure that the
+secret subkey (as controlled by gpg-agent) is only used for the given
+OpenPGP public key. If the exclamation mark syntax is used with the
+fingerprint of a subkey only the secret part of that subkey is
+deleted; if the exclamation mark is used with the fingerprint of the
+primary key nothing will be done.
+
 @item --export
 @opindex export
 Either export all keys from all keyrings (default keyrings and those
diff --git a/g10/delkey.c b/g10/delkey.c
--- a/g10/delkey.c
+++ b/g10/delkey.c
@@ -73,7 +73,8 @@
  * key can't be deleted for that reason.
  */
 static gpg_error_t
-do_delete_key (ctrl_t ctrl, const char *username, int secret, int force,
+do_delete_key (ctrl_t ctrl, const char *username,
+               int secret, int force, int subkeys_only,
                int *r_sec_avail)
 {
   gpg_error_t err;
@@ -256,6 +257,9 @@
               if (thiskeyonly && targetnode != node)
                 continue;
 
+              if (subkeys_only && node->pkt->pkttype != PKT_PUBLIC_SUBKEY)
+                continue;
+
               err = agent_delete_secret_key (ctrl, node->pkt->pkt.public_key);
 
               if (err == GPG_ERR_NO_SECKEY)
@@ -348,7 +352,7 @@
  * Delete a public or secret key from a keyring.
  */
 gpg_error_t
-delete_keys (ctrl_t ctrl, strlist_t names, int secret, int allow_both)
+delete_keys (ctrl_t ctrl, strlist_t names, int secret, int allow_both, int subkeys_only)
 {
   gpg_error_t err;
   int avail;
@@ -359,14 +363,14 @@
 
   for ( ;names ; names=names->next )
     {
-      err = do_delete_key (ctrl, names->d, secret, force, &avail);
+      err = do_delete_key (ctrl, names->d, secret, force, subkeys_only, &avail);
       if (err && avail)
         {
           if (allow_both)
             {
-              err = do_delete_key (ctrl, names->d, 1, 0, &avail);
+              err = do_delete_key (ctrl, names->d, 1, 0, subkeys_only, &avail);
               if (!err)
-                err = do_delete_key (ctrl, names->d, 0, 0, &avail);
+                err = do_delete_key (ctrl, names->d, 0, 0, subkeys_only, &avail);
             }
           else
             {
diff --git a/g10/gpg.c b/g10/gpg.c
--- a/g10/gpg.c
+++ b/g10/gpg.c
@@ -140,6 +140,7 @@
     aEditKey,
     aDeleteKeys,
     aDeleteSecretKeys,
+    aDeleteSecretSubkeys,
     aDeleteSecretAndPublicKeys,
     aImport,
     aFastImport,
@@ -482,6 +483,8 @@
               N_("remove keys from the public keyring")),
   ARGPARSE_c (aDeleteSecretKeys, "delete-secret-keys",
               N_("remove keys from the secret keyring")),
+  ARGPARSE_c (aDeleteSecretSubkeys, "delete-secret-subkeys",
+              N_("remove subkeys from the secret keyring")),
   ARGPARSE_c (aQuickSignKey,  "quick-sign-key" ,
               N_("quickly sign a key")),
   ARGPARSE_c (aQuickLSignKey, "quick-lsign-key",
@@ -2653,6 +2656,7 @@
 	  case aFullKeygen:
 	  case aEditKey:
 	  case aDeleteSecretKeys:
+    case aDeleteSecretSubkeys:
 	  case aDeleteSecretAndPublicKeys:
 	  case aDeleteKeys:
           case aPasswd:
@@ -4205,6 +4209,7 @@
       case aEditKey:
       case aPasswd:
       case aDeleteSecretKeys:
+      case aDeleteSecretSubkeys:
       case aDeleteSecretAndPublicKeys:
       case aQuickKeygen:
       case aQuickAddUid:
@@ -4492,6 +4497,7 @@
 
       case aDeleteKeys:
       case aDeleteSecretKeys:
+      case aDeleteSecretSubkeys:
       case aDeleteSecretAndPublicKeys:
 	sl = NULL;
 	/* I'm adding these in reverse order as add_to_strlist2
@@ -4500,7 +4506,9 @@
 	for( ; argc; argc-- )
 	  add_to_strlist2( &sl, argv[argc-1], utf8_strings );
 	delete_keys (ctrl, sl,
-                     cmd==aDeleteSecretKeys, cmd==aDeleteSecretAndPublicKeys);
+                     cmd == aDeleteSecretKeys || cmd == aDeleteSecretSubkeys,
+                     cmd == aDeleteSecretAndPublicKeys,
+                     cmd == aDeleteSecretSubkeys);
 	free_strlist(sl);
 	break;
 
diff --git a/g10/main.h b/g10/main.h
--- a/g10/main.h
+++ b/g10/main.h
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@
 
 /*-- delkey.c --*/
 gpg_error_t delete_keys (ctrl_t ctrl,
-                         strlist_t names, int secret, int allow_both);
+                         strlist_t names, int secret, int allow_both, int subkeys_only);
 
 /*-- keygen.c --*/
 const char *get_default_pubkey_algo (void);
diff --git a/po/pt.po b/po/pt.po
--- a/po/pt.po
+++ b/po/pt.po
@@ -1995,6 +1995,9 @@
 msgid "remove keys from the secret keyring"
 msgstr "remover chaves do porta-chaves secreto"
 
+msgid "remove subkeys from the secret keyring"
+msgstr "remover subchaves do porta-chaves secreto"
+
 #, fuzzy
 #| msgid "sign a key"
 msgid "quickly sign a key"