diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 4e248566e7..e8e957a0d7 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+2015-07-10  Jacob Fenton  <bocajnotnef@gmail.com>
+
+   * oxli/functions.py: added '--force' check to sanity check
+
 2015-07-09  Jacob Fenton  <bocajnotnef@gmail.com>
 
    * oxli/functions.py: moved optimization/sanity check func to oxli
diff --git a/oxli/functions.py b/oxli/functions.py
index ce84059fc6..2ad42a7f9b 100644
--- a/oxli/functions.py
+++ b/oxli/functions.py
@@ -93,9 +93,11 @@ def do_sanity_checking(args, desired_max_fp):
             if res.fp_rate > desired_max_fp:
                 print("""
 *** ERROR: The given restrictions yield an estimate false positive rate of {0},
-*** which is above the recommended false positive ceiling of {1}!
-*** Aborting!""".format(res.fp_rate, desired_max_fp), file=sys.stderr)
-                sys.exit(1)
+*** which is above the recommended false positive ceiling of {1}!"""
+                      .format(res.fp_rate, desired_max_fp), file=sys.stderr)
+                if not args.force:
+                    print("*** Aborting...!", file=sys.stderr)
+                    sys.exit(1)
         else:
             res = estimate_optimal_with_N_and_f(args.unique_kmers,
                                                 desired_max_fp)