How to update disabled modules using Drush? Is there a way to update disabled modules with Drush?

Currently, when I try to update a disabled module with Drush, I get this message:


  Project has no enabled extensions and can't be updated


Enabling the module is not an option as this is a live site, actually many sites. They all run off of the same Drupal code base. Some modules are used by some sites but not others (possibly not on the main site).

If Drush can't handle this, what's an easy alternative for updating modules?
I use:
    drush pm-updatecode --check-disabled
followed by:
    drush @sites updatedb

The --check-disabled option was added 2014-11-04