diff --git a/interface.json b/interface.json
index a9471f4f..3658cc29 100644
--- a/interface.json
+++ b/interface.json
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@
                 "magicRollback": {
                     "type": "boolean"
                 },
+                "checks": {
+                    "type": "boolean"
+                },
                 "confirmTimeout": {
                     "type": "integer"
                 },
diff --git a/src/bin/deploy.rs b/src/bin/deploy.rs
index 7f6fd206..2f8b9ba6 100644
--- a/src/bin/deploy.rs
+++ b/src/bin/deploy.rs
@@ -50,10 +50,14 @@ struct Opts {
     #[clap(short, long)]
     result_path: Option<String>,
 
-    /// Skip the automatic pre-build checks
+    /// Skip the automatic pre-build checks (DEPRECATED)
     #[clap(short, long)]
     skip_checks: bool,
 
+    /// Run nix flake check before doing anything
+    #[clap(long)]
+    check: bool,
+
     /// Override the SSH user with the given value
     #[clap(long)]
     ssh_user: Option<String>,
@@ -635,6 +639,7 @@ async fn run() -> Result<(), RunError> {
         temp_path: opts.temp_path,
         confirm_timeout: opts.confirm_timeout,
         dry_activate: opts.dry_activate,
+        check: opts.check,
     };
 
     let supports_flakes = test_flake_support().await.map_err(RunError::FlakeTest)?;
@@ -644,10 +649,17 @@ async fn run() -> Result<(), RunError> {
     }
 
     if !opts.skip_checks {
+        info!("deploy-rs does not perform checks automatically anymore; use --check to get the old behavior");
+    } else {
+        warn!("--skip-checks is DEPRECATED since now it is the default behavior; use --check to run checks");
+    }
+
+    if cmd_overrides.check {
         for deploy_flake in deploy_flakes.iter() {
             check_deployment(supports_flakes, deploy_flake.repo, &opts.extra_build_args).await?;
         }
     }
+
     let result_path = opts.result_path.as_deref();
     let data = get_deployment_data(supports_flakes, &deploy_flakes, &opts.extra_build_args).await?;
     run_deploy(
diff --git a/src/data.rs b/src/data.rs
index 6fe7f75f..3b78c3af 100644
--- a/src/data.rs
+++ b/src/data.rs
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ pub struct GenericSettings {
     pub temp_path: Option<String>,
     #[serde(rename(deserialize = "magicRollback"))]
     pub magic_rollback: Option<bool>,
+    #[serde(rename(deserialize = "checks"))]
+    pub checks: Option<bool>,
 }
 
 #[derive(Deserialize, Debug, Clone)]
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 712b8b1f..52470a8b 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -161,6 +161,7 @@ pub struct CmdOverrides {
     pub temp_path: Option<String>,
     pub confirm_timeout: Option<u16>,
     pub dry_activate: bool,
+    pub check: bool,
 }
 
 #[derive(PartialEq, Debug)]