diff --git a/news/4256.feature.rst b/news/4256.feature.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..03d7c95d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/4256.feature.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Add ``--exclude`` option to ``pip freeze`` and ``pip list`` commands to explicitly exclude packages from the output.
diff --git a/news/4256.removal.rst b/news/4256.removal.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6d560b7bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/4256.removal.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+``pip freeze`` will stop filtering the ``pip``, ``setuptools``, ``distribute`` and ``wheel`` packages from ``pip freeze`` output in a future version.
+To keep the previous behavior, users should use the new ``--exclude`` option.
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/cli/cmdoptions.py b/src/pip/_internal/cli/cmdoptions.py
index ec4df3fcc..6a6634fb8 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/cli/cmdoptions.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/cli/cmdoptions.py
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ from functools import partial
 from optparse import SUPPRESS_HELP, Option, OptionGroup
 from textwrap import dedent
 
+from pip._vendor.packaging.utils import canonicalize_name
+
 from pip._internal.cli.progress_bars import BAR_TYPES
 from pip._internal.exceptions import CommandError
 from pip._internal.locations import USER_CACHE_DIR, get_src_prefix
@@ -133,9 +135,15 @@ def _path_option_check(option, opt, value):
     return os.path.expanduser(value)
 
 
+def _package_name_option_check(option, opt, value):
+    # type: (Option, str, str) -> str
+    return canonicalize_name(value)
+
+
 class PipOption(Option):
-    TYPES = Option.TYPES + ("path",)
+    TYPES = Option.TYPES + ("path", "package_name")
     TYPE_CHECKER = Option.TYPE_CHECKER.copy()
+    TYPE_CHECKER["package_name"] = _package_name_option_check
     TYPE_CHECKER["path"] = _path_option_check
 
 
@@ -866,6 +874,17 @@ def check_list_path_option(options):
         )
 
 
+list_exclude = partial(
+    PipOption,
+    '--exclude',
+    dest='excludes',
+    action='append',
+    metavar='package',
+    type='package_name',
+    help="Exclude specified package from the output",
+)  # type: Callable[..., Option]
+
+
 no_python_version_warning = partial(
     Option,
     '--no-python-version-warning',
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/commands/freeze.py b/src/pip/_internal/commands/freeze.py
index 20084a498..4d1ce69a1 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/commands/freeze.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/commands/freeze.py
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ class FreezeCommand(Command):
             dest='exclude_editable',
             action='store_true',
             help='Exclude editable package from output.')
+        self.cmd_opts.add_option(cmdoptions.list_exclude())
 
         self.parser.insert_option_group(0, self.cmd_opts)
 
@@ -85,6 +86,9 @@ class FreezeCommand(Command):
         if not options.freeze_all:
             skip.update(DEV_PKGS)
 
+        if options.excludes:
+            skip.update(options.excludes)
+
         cmdoptions.check_list_path_option(options)
 
         if options.find_links:
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/commands/list.py b/src/pip/_internal/commands/list.py
index a6dfa5fd5..27b15d70a 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/commands/list.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/commands/list.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ from pip._internal.exceptions import CommandError
 from pip._internal.index.collector import LinkCollector
 from pip._internal.index.package_finder import PackageFinder
 from pip._internal.models.selection_prefs import SelectionPreferences
+from pip._internal.utils.compat import stdlib_pkgs
 from pip._internal.utils.misc import (
     dist_is_editable,
     get_installed_distributions,
@@ -114,6 +115,7 @@ class ListCommand(IndexGroupCommand):
             help='Include editable package from output.',
             default=True,
         )
+        self.cmd_opts.add_option(cmdoptions.list_exclude())
         index_opts = cmdoptions.make_option_group(
             cmdoptions.index_group, self.parser
         )
@@ -147,12 +149,17 @@ class ListCommand(IndexGroupCommand):
 
         cmdoptions.check_list_path_option(options)
 
+        skip = set(stdlib_pkgs)
+        if options.excludes:
+            skip.update(options.excludes)
+
         packages = get_installed_distributions(
             local_only=options.local,
             user_only=options.user,
             editables_only=options.editable,
             include_editables=options.include_editable,
             paths=options.path,
+            skip=skip,
         )
 
         # get_not_required must be called firstly in order to find and
diff --git a/tests/functional/test_freeze.py b/tests/functional/test_freeze.py
index 74d676aed..f0a2265f3 100644
--- a/tests/functional/test_freeze.py
+++ b/tests/functional/test_freeze.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ from tests.lib import (
     need_mercurial,
     need_svn,
     path_to_url,
+    wheel,
 )
 
 distribute_re = re.compile('^distribute==[0-9.]+\n', re.MULTILINE)
@@ -80,6 +81,25 @@ def test_freeze_with_pip(script):
     assert 'pip==' in result.stdout
 
 
+def test_exclude_and_normalization(script, tmpdir):
+    req_path = wheel.make_wheel(
+        name="Normalizable_Name", version="1.0").save_to_dir(tmpdir)
+    script.pip("install", "--no-index", req_path)
+    result = script.pip("freeze")
+    assert "Normalizable-Name" in result.stdout
+    result = script.pip("freeze", "--exclude", "normalizablE-namE")
+    assert "Normalizable-Name" not in result.stdout
+
+
+def test_freeze_multiple_exclude_with_all(script, with_wheel):
+    result = script.pip('freeze', '--all')
+    assert 'pip==' in result.stdout
+    assert 'wheel==' in result.stdout
+    result = script.pip('freeze', '--all', '--exclude', 'pip', '--exclude', 'wheel')
+    assert 'pip==' not in result.stdout
+    assert 'wheel==' not in result.stdout
+
+
 def test_freeze_with_invalid_names(script):
     """
     Test that invalid names produce warnings and are passed over gracefully.
diff --git a/tests/functional/test_list.py b/tests/functional/test_list.py
index 37787246b..40dfbdea3 100644
--- a/tests/functional/test_list.py
+++ b/tests/functional/test_list.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import os
 
 import pytest
 
-from tests.lib import create_test_package_with_setup
+from tests.lib import create_test_package_with_setup, wheel
 from tests.lib.path import Path
 
 
@@ -94,6 +94,19 @@ def test_local_columns_flag(simple_script):
     assert 'simple     1.0' in result.stdout, str(result)
 
 
+def test_multiple_exclude_and_normalization(script, tmpdir):
+    req_path = wheel.make_wheel(
+        name="Normalizable_Name", version="1.0").save_to_dir(tmpdir)
+    script.pip("install", "--no-index", req_path)
+    result = script.pip("list")
+    print(result.stdout)
+    assert "Normalizable-Name" in result.stdout
+    assert "pip" in result.stdout
+    result = script.pip("list", "--exclude", "normalizablE-namE", "--exclude", "pIp")
+    assert "Normalizable-Name" not in result.stdout
+    assert "pip" not in result.stdout
+
+
 @pytest.mark.network
 @pytest.mark.incompatible_with_test_venv
 def test_user_flag(script, data):