diff --git a/cmd/flags/flags.go b/cmd/flags/flags.go
index 705a2e58..b50d4bb9 100644
--- a/cmd/flags/flags.go
+++ b/cmd/flags/flags.go
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ func BackfillBatchSize() int { return viper.GetInt("BACKFILL_BATCH_SIZE") }
 
 func BackfillBatchDelay() time.Duration { return viper.GetDuration("BACKFILL_BATCH_DELAY") }
 
+func SkipValidation() bool { return viper.GetBool("SKIP_VALIDATION") }
+
 func Role() string {
 	return viper.GetString("ROLE")
 }
diff --git a/cmd/root.go b/cmd/root.go
index 1b01a1a5..5cab48d8 100644
--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ func NewRoll(ctx context.Context) (*roll.Roll, error) {
 	role := flags.Role()
 	backfillBatchSize := flags.BackfillBatchSize()
 	backfillBatchDelay := flags.BackfillBatchDelay()
+	skipValidation := flags.SkipValidation()
 
 	state, err := state.New(ctx, pgURL, stateSchema)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -62,6 +63,7 @@ func NewRoll(ctx context.Context) (*roll.Roll, error) {
 		roll.WithRole(role),
 		roll.WithBackfillBatchSize(backfillBatchSize),
 		roll.WithBackfillBatchDelay(backfillBatchDelay),
+		roll.WithSkipValidation(skipValidation),
 	)
 }
 
diff --git a/cmd/start.go b/cmd/start.go
index c26152e5..415c9476 100644
--- a/cmd/start.go
+++ b/cmd/start.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/pterm/pterm"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	"github.com/spf13/viper"
 
 	"github.com/xataio/pgroll/cmd/flags"
 	"github.com/xataio/pgroll/pkg/migrations"
@@ -39,6 +40,9 @@ func startCmd() *cobra.Command {
 
 	startCmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&complete, "complete", "c", false, "Mark the migration as complete")
 
+	startCmd.Flags().BoolP("skip-validation", "s", false, "skip migration validation")
+	viper.BindPFlag("SKIP_VALIDATION", startCmd.Flags().Lookup("skip-validation"))
+
 	return startCmd
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/roll/execute.go b/pkg/roll/execute.go
index ce27e77d..23211eff 100644
--- a/pkg/roll/execute.go
+++ b/pkg/roll/execute.go
@@ -43,12 +43,14 @@ func (m *Roll) StartDDLOperations(ctx context.Context, migration *migrations.Mig
 	}
 
 	// validate migration
-	err = migration.Validate(ctx, newSchema)
-	if err != nil {
-		if err := m.state.Rollback(ctx, m.schema, migration.Name); err != nil {
-			fmt.Printf("failed to rollback migration: %s\n", err)
+	if !m.skipValidation {
+		err = migration.Validate(ctx, newSchema)
+		if err != nil {
+			if err := m.state.Rollback(ctx, m.schema, migration.Name); err != nil {
+				fmt.Printf("failed to rollback migration: %s\n", err)
+			}
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("migration is invalid: %w", err)
 		}
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("migration is invalid: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	// run any BeforeStartDDL hooks
diff --git a/pkg/roll/options.go b/pkg/roll/options.go
index efd08ce4..ea76c357 100644
--- a/pkg/roll/options.go
+++ b/pkg/roll/options.go
@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@ type options struct {
 	// the duration to delay after each batch is run
 	backfillBatchDelay time.Duration
 
+	// whether to skip validation
+	skipValidation bool
+
 	migrationHooks MigrationHooks
 }
 
@@ -121,3 +124,11 @@ func WithBackfillBatchDelay(delay time.Duration) Option {
 		o.backfillBatchDelay = delay
 	}
 }
+
+// WithSkipValidation controls whether or not to perform validation on
+// migrations. If set to true, validation will be skipped.
+func WithSkipValidation(skip bool) Option {
+	return func(o *options) {
+		o.skipValidation = skip
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/roll/roll.go b/pkg/roll/roll.go
index e559119b..3d2581c7 100644
--- a/pkg/roll/roll.go
+++ b/pkg/roll/roll.go
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ type Roll struct {
 
 	backfillBatchSize  int
 	backfillBatchDelay time.Duration
+	skipValidation     bool
 }
 
 // New creates a new Roll instance
@@ -84,6 +85,7 @@ func New(ctx context.Context, pgURL, schema string, state *state.State, opts ...
 		migrationHooks:           rollOpts.migrationHooks,
 		backfillBatchSize:        rollOpts.backfillBatchSize,
 		backfillBatchDelay:       rollOpts.backfillBatchDelay,
+		skipValidation:           rollOpts.skipValidation,
 	}, nil
 }