Extending matroid classes closed under flats

We call a class $\mathcal{M}$ of matroids hereditary if it is closed under flats. We denote by $\mathcal{M}^{ext}$ the class of matroids $M$ that is in $\mathcal{M}$, or has an element $e$ such that $M \backslash e$ is in $\mathcal{M}$. We prove that if $\mathcal{M}$ has finitely many forbidden flats, then so does $\mathcal{M}^{ext}$. Discussing the interplay of graphs and matroids, we note the consequences of this result for graphs.