diff --git a/tljh/config.py b/tljh/config.py
index 8537cb3..849fdb5 100644
--- a/tljh/config.py
+++ b/tljh/config.py
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ def remove_item_from_config(config, property_path, value):
     return config_copy
 
 
-def validate_config(config):
+def validate_config(config, validate):
     """
     Validate changes to the config with tljh-config against the schema
     """
@@ -165,8 +165,13 @@ def validate_config(config):
     try:
         jsonschema.validate(instance=config, schema=config_schema)
     except jsonschema.exceptions.ValidationError as e:
-        print(e.message)
-        exit()
+        if validate:
+            print(
+                f"Config validation error: {e.message}.\n"
+                "You can still apply this change without validation by re-running your command with the --no-validate flag.\n"
+                "If you think this validation error is incorrect, please report it to https://github.com/jupyterhub/the-littlest-jupyterhub/issues."
+            )
+            exit()
 
 
 def show_config(config_path):
@@ -182,7 +187,7 @@ def show_config(config_path):
     yaml.dump(config, sys.stdout)
 
 
-def set_config_value(config_path, key_path, value):
+def set_config_value(config_path, key_path, value, validate):
     """
     Set key at key_path in config_path to value
     """
@@ -194,13 +199,13 @@ def set_config_value(config_path, key_path, value):
         config = {}
     config = set_item_in_config(config, key_path, value)
 
-    validate_config(config)
+    validate_config(config, validate)
 
     with open(config_path, "w") as f:
         yaml.dump(config, f)
 
 
-def unset_config_value(config_path, key_path):
+def unset_config_value(config_path, key_path, validate):
     """
     Unset key at key_path in config_path
     """
@@ -212,13 +217,13 @@ def unset_config_value(config_path, key_path):
         config = {}
 
     config = unset_item_from_config(config, key_path)
-    validate_config(config)
+    validate_config(config, validate)
 
     with open(config_path, "w") as f:
         yaml.dump(config, f)
 
 
-def add_config_value(config_path, key_path, value):
+def add_config_value(config_path, key_path, value, validate):
     """
     Add value to list at key_path
     """
@@ -230,13 +235,13 @@ def add_config_value(config_path, key_path, value):
         config = {}
 
     config = add_item_to_config(config, key_path, value)
-    validate_config(config)
+    validate_config(config, validate)
 
     with open(config_path, "w") as f:
         yaml.dump(config, f)
 
 
-def remove_config_value(config_path, key_path, value):
+def remove_config_value(config_path, key_path, value, validate):
     """
     Remove value from list at key_path
     """
@@ -248,7 +253,7 @@ def remove_config_value(config_path, key_path, value):
         config = {}
 
     config = remove_item_from_config(config, key_path, value)
-    validate_config(config)
+    validate_config(config, validate)
 
     with open(config_path, "w") as f:
         yaml.dump(config, f)
@@ -351,6 +356,12 @@ def main(argv=None):
     argparser.add_argument(
         "--config-path", default=CONFIG_FILE, help="Path to TLJH config.yaml file"
     )
+    argparser.add_argument(
+        "--validate",
+        action=argparse.BooleanOptionalAction,
+        help="Validate the TLJH config",
+    )
+
     subparsers = argparser.add_subparsers(dest="action")
 
     show_parser = subparsers.add_parser("show", help="Show current configuration")
@@ -395,16 +406,25 @@ def main(argv=None):
 
     args = argparser.parse_args(argv)
 
+    if args.validate == None:
+        args.validate = True
+
     if args.action == "show":
         show_config(args.config_path)
     elif args.action == "set":
-        set_config_value(args.config_path, args.key_path, parse_value(args.value))
+        set_config_value(
+            args.config_path, args.key_path, parse_value(args.value), args.validate
+        )
     elif args.action == "unset":
-        unset_config_value(args.config_path, args.key_path)
+        unset_config_value(args.config_path, args.key_path, args.validate)
     elif args.action == "add-item":
-        add_config_value(args.config_path, args.key_path, parse_value(args.value))
+        add_config_value(
+            args.config_path, args.key_path, parse_value(args.value), args.validate
+        )
     elif args.action == "remove-item":
-        remove_config_value(args.config_path, args.key_path, parse_value(args.value))
+        remove_config_value(
+            args.config_path, args.key_path, parse_value(args.value), args.validate
+        )
     elif args.action == "reload":
         reload_component(args.component)
     else: