diff --git a/tools/check-provision b/tools/check-provision
index 1ebab34b80..a89d99731e 100755
--- a/tools/check-provision
+++ b/tools/check-provision
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ def run() -> None:
 
     options = parser.parse_args()
 
-    assert_provisioning_status_ok(options.force)
+    assert_provisioning_status_ok(options.skip_provision_check)
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
diff --git a/tools/lib/test_script.py b/tools/lib/test_script.py
index e1b346b071..963fdc3c19 100644
--- a/tools/lib/test_script.py
+++ b/tools/lib/test_script.py
@@ -80,20 +80,22 @@ def get_provisioning_status() -> Tuple[bool, Optional[str]]:
     return False, preamble(version) + NEED_TO_UPGRADE
 
 
-def assert_provisioning_status_ok(force: bool) -> None:
-    if not force:
+def assert_provisioning_status_ok(skip_provision_check: bool) -> None:
+    if not skip_provision_check:
         ok, msg = get_provisioning_status()
         if not ok:
             print(msg)
-            print("If you really know what you are doing, use --force to run anyway.")
+            print(
+                "If you really know what you are doing, use --skip-provision-check to run anyway."
+            )
             sys.exit(1)
 
 
 def add_provision_check_override_param(parser: ArgumentParser) -> None:
     """
-    Registers --force argument to be used with various commands/tests in our tools.
+    Registers --skip-provision-check argument to be used with various commands/tests in our tools.
     """
-    parser.add_argument("--force", action="store_true", help="Run tests despite possible problems.")
+    parser.add_argument("--skip-provision-check", action="store_true", help="Run tests despite possible problems.")
 
 
 def find_js_test_files(test_dir: str, files: Iterable[str]) -> List[str]:
diff --git a/tools/lib/test_server.py b/tools/lib/test_server.py
index d326f695b7..3cd37776f1 100644
--- a/tools/lib/test_server.py
+++ b/tools/lib/test_server.py
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ def server_is_up(server: "subprocess.Popen[bytes]", log_file: Optional[str]) ->
 
 @contextmanager
 def test_server_running(
-    force: bool = False,
+    skip_provision_check: bool = False,
     external_host: str = "testserver",
     log_file: Optional[str] = None,
     dots: bool = False,
@@ -72,8 +72,8 @@ def test_server_running(
 
     # Run this not through the shell, so that we have the actual PID.
     run_dev_server_command = ["tools/run-dev.py", "--test", "--streamlined"]
-    if force:
-        run_dev_server_command.append("--force")
+    if skip_provision_check:
+        run_dev_server_command.append("--skip-provision-check")
     server = subprocess.Popen(run_dev_server_command, stdout=log, stderr=log)
 
     try:
diff --git a/tools/lint b/tools/lint
index 6b018e7376..09b4613671 100755
--- a/tools/lint
+++ b/tools/lint
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ def run() -> None:
 
     os.chdir(root_dir)
 
-    assert_provisioning_status_ok(args.force)
+    assert_provisioning_status_ok(args.skip_provision_check)
 
     # Invoke the appropriate lint checker for each language,
     # and also check files for extra whitespace.
@@ -107,8 +107,8 @@ def run() -> None:
         description="Formats shell scripts",
     )
     command = ["tools/run-mypy", "--quiet"]
-    if args.force:
-        command.append("--force")
+    if args.skip_provision_check:
+        command.append("--skip-provision-check")
     linter_config.external_linter(
         "mypy",
         command,
diff --git a/tools/pre-commit b/tools/pre-commit
index 3a8482c41d..6c4d91a66e 100755
--- a/tools/pre-commit
+++ b/tools/pre-commit
@@ -19,10 +19,10 @@ if [ ${#changed_files} -eq 0 ]; then
 fi
 
 if [ -z "$VIRTUAL_ENV" ] && command -v vagrant >/dev/null && [ -e .vagrant ]; then
-    vcmd="/srv/zulip/tools/lint --skip=gitlint --force $(printf '%q ' "${changed_files[@]}") || true"
+    vcmd="/srv/zulip/tools/lint --skip=gitlint --skip-provision-check $(printf '%q ' "${changed_files[@]}") || true"
     echo "Running lint using vagrant..."
     vagrant ssh -c "$vcmd"
 else
-    ./tools/lint --skip=gitlint --force "${changed_files[@]}" || true
+    ./tools/lint --skip=gitlint --skip-provision-check "${changed_files[@]}" || true
 fi
 exit 0
diff --git a/tools/run-dev.py b/tools/run-dev.py
index cc2c155671..195bdda5fd 100755
--- a/tools/run-dev.py
+++ b/tools/run-dev.py
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ parser.add_argument(
 add_provision_check_override_param(parser)
 options = parser.parse_args()
 
-assert_provisioning_status_ok(options.force)
+assert_provisioning_status_ok(options.skip_provision_check)
 
 if options.interface is None:
     user_id = os.getuid()
diff --git a/tools/run-mypy b/tools/run-mypy
index 56ef94ee0a..ed926fc692 100755
--- a/tools/run-mypy
+++ b/tools/run-mypy
@@ -30,8 +30,7 @@ parser.add_argument(
 add_provision_check_override_param(parser)
 parser.add_argument("--quiet", action="store_true", help="suppress mypy summary output")
 args = parser.parse_args()
-
-assert_provisioning_status_ok(args.force)
+assert_provisioning_status_ok(args.skip_provision_check)
 
 command_name = "mypy"
 
diff --git a/tools/test-all b/tools/test-all
index f4046ba2c3..c034ba4f22 100755
--- a/tools/test-all
+++ b/tools/test-all
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@ eval set -- "$TEMP"
 # extract options.
 while true; do
     case "$1" in
-        -f | --force)
-            FORCEARG="--force"
+        -f | --skip-provision-check)
+            FORCEARG="--skip-provision-check"
             shift
             ;;
         --)
diff --git a/tools/test-api b/tools/test-api
index c27e15e9db..9950b991bc 100755
--- a/tools/test-api
+++ b/tools/test-api
@@ -24,9 +24,11 @@ parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(usage)
 add_provision_check_override_param(parser)
 options = parser.parse_args()
 
-assert_provisioning_status_ok(options.force)
+assert_provisioning_status_ok(options.skip_provision_check)
 
-with test_server_running(force=options.force, external_host="zulipdev.com:9981"):
+with test_server_running(
+    skip_provision_check=options.skip_provision_check, external_host="zulipdev.com:9981"
+):
     # Zerver imports should happen after `django.setup()` is run
     # by the test_server_running decorator.
     from zerver.lib.actions import do_create_user
diff --git a/tools/test-backend b/tools/test-backend
index 22676ac3be..82bb072aff 100755
--- a/tools/test-backend
+++ b/tools/test-backend
@@ -368,7 +368,7 @@ def main() -> None:
             full_suite = False
         os.environ["GENERATE_STRIPE_FIXTURES"] = "1"
 
-    assert_provisioning_status_ok(options.force)
+    assert_provisioning_status_ok(options.skip_provision_check)
 
     if options.coverage:
         import coverage
diff --git a/tools/test-help-documentation b/tools/test-help-documentation
index 5764186991..41ffb4399a 100755
--- a/tools/test-help-documentation
+++ b/tools/test-help-documentation
@@ -60,7 +60,9 @@ def vnu_servlet() -> Iterator[None]:
         proc.terminate()
 
 
-with vnu_servlet(), test_server_running(options.force, external_host, log_file=LOG_FILE, dots=True):
+with vnu_servlet(), test_server_running(
+    options.skip_provision_check, external_host, log_file=LOG_FILE, dots=True
+):
     ret_help_doc = subprocess.call(
         ["scrapy", "crawl_with_status", *extra_args, "help_documentation_crawler"],
         cwd="tools/documentation_crawler",
diff --git a/tools/test-js-with-node b/tools/test-js-with-node
index cd6768ea32..89d2f6d4b4 100755
--- a/tools/test-js-with-node
+++ b/tools/test-js-with-node
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ parser.add_argument("args", nargs=argparse.REMAINDER)
 options = parser.parse_args()
 individual_files = options.args
 
-assert_provisioning_status_ok(options.force)
+assert_provisioning_status_ok(options.skip_provision_check)
 
 
 def get_dev_host() -> str:
diff --git a/tools/test-js-with-puppeteer b/tools/test-js-with-puppeteer
index c3b6c19b10..5445f93007 100755
--- a/tools/test-js-with-puppeteer
+++ b/tools/test-js-with-puppeteer
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ or report and ask for help in chat.zulip.org""",
 
 
 external_host = "zulipdev.com:9981"
-assert_provisioning_status_ok(options.force)
+assert_provisioning_status_ok(options.skip_provision_check)
 prepare_puppeteer_run()
 run_tests(options.tests, external_host)
 print(f"{OKGREEN}All tests passed!{ENDC}")