diff --git a/doc/source/reference/usage.rst b/doc/source/reference/usage.rst
index e59376bb..66ac5524 100644
--- a/doc/source/reference/usage.rst
+++ b/doc/source/reference/usage.rst
@@ -95,13 +95,7 @@ Creating and using a sushy system object
 
   # Refresh the system collection object
   #
-  # In order to reload a resource post its initialization it has to be marked
-  # as stale (i.e. invoking 'invalidate()') first and then 'refresh()' has to
-  # be called. This will only reload the resource w/o reloading/refreshing its
-  # sub-resources (lazy-refresh of sub-resources).
-  # Note that calling 'refresh()' only, i.e. w/o calling 'invalidate()' first,
-  # will be a no-op wrt resource reload in this case.
-  sys_col.invalidate()
+  # See below for more options on how to refresh resources.
   sys_col.refresh()
 
 
@@ -115,14 +109,16 @@ Creating and using a sushy system object
   print(sys_inst.get_allowed_reset_system_values())
 
   # Refresh the system object (with all its sub-resources)
-  #
-  # Alternatively, this is the other way of reloading a resource object:
-  # The resource can be reloaded w/o the need of marking it stale
-  # (i.e. not invoking 'invalidate()'). It is achieved when the "force"
-  # argument of 'refresh()' method is set to True. Do note that the
-  # sub-resources of the resource being reloaded will also get reloaded
-  # (greedy-refresh of sub-resources) when this mode is adopted.
-  sys_inst.refresh(force=True)
+  sys_inst.refresh()
+
+  # Alternatively, you can only refresh the resource if it is stale by passing
+  # force=False:
+  sys_inst.refresh(force=False)
+
+  # A resource can be marked stale by calling invalidate. Note that its
+  # subresources won't be marked as stale, and thus they won't be refreshed by
+  # a call to refresh(force=False)
+  sys_inst.invalidate()
 
   # Get the current power state
   print(sys_inst.power_state)
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/fix-refine-resource-refresh-86c21ce230967251.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/fix-refine-resource-refresh-86c21ce230967251.yaml
index 9005ae55..f09eeac4 100644
--- a/releasenotes/notes/fix-refine-resource-refresh-86c21ce230967251.yaml
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/fix-refine-resource-refresh-86c21ce230967251.yaml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
-fixes:
+features:
   - |
-    The library now supports reloading of the attributes by invoking
-    ``refresh()`` method for nested resources in contrast to recreation.
-    Resources can now be marked stale by invoking ``invalidate()``.
+    New ``force`` argument to the ``refresh`` method on resources can be set to
+    ``False`` to prevent refreshing of resources that are not stale. Resources
+    can be marked as stale by calling a new ``invalidate`` method.
diff --git a/sushy/resources/base.py b/sushy/resources/base.py
index f04cf61f..43d053f8 100644
--- a/sushy/resources/base.py
+++ b/sushy/resources/base.py
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ class ResourceBase(object):
             # Hide the Field object behind the real value
             setattr(self, attr, field._load(self.json, self))
 
-    def refresh(self, force=False):
+    def refresh(self, force=True):
         """Refresh the resource
 
         Freshly retrieves/fetches the resource attributes and invokes
@@ -254,8 +254,9 @@ class ResourceBase(object):
         in ``_do_refresh()`` method, if needed. This method represents the
         template method in the paradigm of Template design pattern.
 
-        :param force: will force refresh the resource and its sub-resources,
-            if set to True.
+        :param force: if set to False, will only refresh if the resource is
+            marked as stale, otherwise neither it nor its subresources will
+            be refreshed.
         :raises: ResourceNotFoundError
         :raises: ConnectionError
         :raises: HTTPError
diff --git a/sushy/tests/unit/resources/system/test_system.py b/sushy/tests/unit/resources/system/test_system.py
index f5ed6b38..20007bf8 100644
--- a/sushy/tests/unit/resources/system/test_system.py
+++ b/sushy/tests/unit/resources/system/test_system.py
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ class SystemTestCase(base.TestCase):
             self.conn.get.return_value.json.return_value = json.loads(f.read())
 
         self.sys_inst.invalidate()
-        self.sys_inst.refresh()
+        self.sys_inst.refresh(force=False)
 
         # | WHEN & THEN |
         self.assertIsNotNone(self.sys_inst._processors)
diff --git a/sushy/tests/unit/resources/test_base.py b/sushy/tests/unit/resources/test_base.py
index 9353cf7e..8f92ba7d 100644
--- a/sushy/tests/unit/resources/test_base.py
+++ b/sushy/tests/unit/resources/test_base.py
@@ -40,19 +40,19 @@ class ResourceBaseTestCase(base.TestCase):
         # refresh() is called in the constructor
         self.conn.reset_mock()
 
-    def test_refresh(self):
-        self.base_resource.refresh()
+    def test_refresh_no_force(self):
+        self.base_resource.refresh(force=False)
         self.conn.get.assert_not_called()
 
     def test_refresh_force(self):
-        self.base_resource.refresh(force=True)
+        self.base_resource.refresh()
         self.conn.get.assert_called_once_with(path='/Foo')
 
     def test_invalidate(self):
         self.base_resource.invalidate()
         self.conn.get.assert_not_called()
 
-        self.base_resource.refresh()
+        self.base_resource.refresh(force=False)
         self.conn.get.assert_called_once_with(path='/Foo')
 
     def test_invalidate_force_refresh(self):