diff --git a/src/cmd/cli.cpp b/src/cmd/cli.cpp
index cb6a3abd..cad16f28 100644
--- a/src/cmd/cli.cpp
+++ b/src/cmd/cli.cpp
@@ -283,6 +283,7 @@ static json11::Json::object parse_args(int narg, const char *args[])
                 !strcmp(opt, "readonly") || !strcmp(opt, "readwrite") ||
                 !strcmp(opt, "force") || !strcmp(opt, "reverse") ||
                 !strcmp(opt, "allow-data-loss") || !strcmp(opt, "allow_data_loss") ||
+                !strcmp(opt, "allow-up") || !strcmp(opt, "allow_up") ||
                 !strcmp(opt, "down-ok") || !strcmp(opt, "down_ok") ||
                 !strcmp(opt, "dry-run") || !strcmp(opt, "dry_run") ||
                 !strcmp(opt, "help") || !strcmp(opt, "all") ||
diff --git a/src/cmd/cli_rm_osd.cpp b/src/cmd/cli_rm_osd.cpp
index b6dd257d..2a7612e4 100644
--- a/src/cmd/cli_rm_osd.cpp
+++ b/src/cmd/cli_rm_osd.cpp
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ struct rm_osd_t
 {
     cli_tool_t *parent;
 
-    bool dry_run, force_warning, force_dataloss;
+    bool dry_run, force_warning, force_dataloss, allow_up;
     uint64_t etcd_tx_retry_ms = 500;
     uint64_t etcd_tx_retries = 10000;
     std::vector<uint64_t> osd_ids;
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ struct rm_osd_t
                                 : strtoupper(e["effect"].string_value())+" PGs"))
                 )+" after deleting OSD(s).\n";
             }
-            if (still_up.size())
+            if (still_up.size() && !allow_up)
                 error += (still_up.size() == 1 ? "OSD " : "OSDs ") + implode(", ", still_up) +
                     (still_up.size() == 1 ? "is" : "are") + " still up. Use `vitastor-disk purge` to delete them.\n";
             if (is_dataloss && !force_dataloss && !dry_run)
@@ -476,6 +476,7 @@ std::function<bool(cli_result_t &)> cli_tool_t::start_rm_osd(json11::Json cfg)
     auto rm_osd = new rm_osd_t();
     rm_osd->parent = this;
     rm_osd->dry_run = cfg["dry_run"].bool_value();
+    rm_osd->allow_up = cfg["allow_up"].bool_value();
     rm_osd->force_dataloss = cfg["allow_data_loss"].bool_value();
     rm_osd->force_warning = rm_osd->force_dataloss || cfg["force"].bool_value();
     if (!cfg["etcd_tx_retries"].is_null())
diff --git a/src/disk_tool/disk_tool_udev.cpp b/src/disk_tool/disk_tool_udev.cpp
index 09e02367..a506518f 100644
--- a/src/disk_tool/disk_tool_udev.cpp
+++ b/src/disk_tool/disk_tool_udev.cpp
@@ -435,7 +435,7 @@ int disk_tool_t::purge_devices(const std::vector<std::string> & devices)
             printf("%s\n", json11::Json(result).dump().c_str());
         return 0;
     }
-    std::vector<std::string> rm_osd_cli = { "vitastor-cli", "rm-osd" };
+    std::vector<std::string> rm_osd_cli = { "vitastor-cli", "rm-osd", "--allow-up" };
     for (auto osd_num: osd_numbers)
     {
         rm_osd_cli.push_back(std::to_string(osd_num));