diff --git a/ci/ga_merge.sh b/ci/ga_merge.sh
index 3bd45c990c..b8ea702f2b 100755
--- a/ci/ga_merge.sh
+++ b/ci/ga_merge.sh
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@ echo "Using upstream: ... ${upstream##https:}"
 git remote add upstream $upstream
 git fetch upstream $GITHUB_REF:base_branch
 
-tools/ocpn-metadata generate --userdir metadata --destfile ocpn-plugins.new
+tools/ocpn-metadata generate --userdir metadata --frozendir frozen-metadata \
+    --destfile ocpn-plugins.new
 sed  -ie  '/<date>/d' ocpn-plugins.new ocpn-plugins.xml
 if git diff -b --quiet --no-index ocpn-plugins.xml ocpn-plugins.new; then
     echo "ocpn-plugins.xml is already  up do date -- exiting"
@@ -26,8 +27,8 @@ if git diff -b --quiet --no-index ocpn-plugins.xml ocpn-plugins.new; then
 fi
 
 echo "Re-generating ocpn-plugins.xml to match metadata."
-tools/ocpn-metadata generate \
-    --userdir metadata --destfile ocpn-plugins.xml  --force
+tools/ocpn-metadata generate --userdir metadata --frozendir frozen-metadata \
+    --destfile ocpn-plugins.xmlö --force
 git config --local user.email "action@github.com"
 git config --local user.name "$GITHUB_ACTOR"
 git add ocpn-plugins.xml
diff --git a/frozen-metadata/.gitkeep b/frozen-metadata/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/tools/ocpn-metadata b/tools/ocpn-metadata
index f624a242ad..c492e9feb6 100755
--- a/tools/ocpn-metadata
+++ b/tools/ocpn-metadata
@@ -69,7 +69,10 @@ def get_args(paths):
             help='Overwrite possibly existing source files.')
     generate_parser.add_argument(
             '--userdir', metavar='dir', default=paths["userdir"],
-            help='source directory [%s]' % paths["userdir"])
+            help='regular source directory [%s]' % paths["userdir"])
+    generate_parser.add_argument(
+            '--frozendir', metavar='dir', default='',
+            help='frozen source directory [""]')
     generate_parser.add_argument(
             '--destfile', metavar='path', default=paths["destfile"],
             help='destination path [%s]' % paths["destfile"])
@@ -86,7 +89,7 @@ def get_args(paths):
     return args
 
 
-def generate(sourcedir, destfile, version, date):
+def generate(sourcedir, frozendir, destfile, version, date):
     """Generate a new ocpn-plugins.xml."""
     tree = ET.Element('plugins')
     version_elem = ET.SubElement(tree, "version")
@@ -94,7 +97,9 @@ def generate(sourcedir, destfile, version, date):
     date_elem = ET.SubElement(tree, "date")
     date_elem.text = \
         date if date else datetime.datetime.now().strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M')
-    for path in sorted(Path(sourcedir).glob("*.xml")):
+    paths = sorted(Path(sourcedir).glob("*.xml"))
+    if bool(frozendir): paths.extend(sorted(Path(frozendir).glob("*.xml")))
+    for path in paths:
         try:
             subtree = ET.parse(str(path))
         except ET.ParseError as ex:
@@ -142,7 +147,7 @@ def main():
             errprint("The file %s is in the way" % args.destfile)
             errprint("Please remove or use --force")
             sys.exit(1)
-        generate(args.userdir, args.destfile, args.version, args.date)
+        generate(args.userdir, args.frozendir, args.destfile, args.version, args.date)
         print("Generated new ocpn-plugins.xml at " + args.destfile)