diff --git a/packages/kit/src/core/config/index.spec.js b/packages/kit/src/core/config/index.spec.js
index e6aea5473ec22..efddafd972179 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/core/config/index.spec.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/core/config/index.spec.js
@@ -50,6 +50,8 @@ test('fills in defaults', () => {
 			prerender: {
 				crawl: true,
 				enabled: true,
+				// TODO: remove this for the 1.0 release
+				force: undefined,
 				onError: 'fail',
 				pages: ['*']
 			},
@@ -150,6 +152,8 @@ test('fills in partial blanks', () => {
 			prerender: {
 				crawl: true,
 				enabled: true,
+				// TODO: remove this for the 1.0 release
+				force: undefined,
 				onError: 'fail',
 				pages: ['*']
 			},
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/core/config/options.js b/packages/kit/src/core/config/options.js
index 89f8b35040e22..68f688a4c0fb3 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/core/config/options.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/core/config/options.js
@@ -121,6 +121,22 @@ const options = {
 				children: {
 					crawl: expect_boolean(true),
 					enabled: expect_boolean(true),
+					// TODO: remove this for the 1.0 release
+					force: {
+						type: 'leaf',
+						default: undefined,
+						validate: (option, keypath) => {
+							if (typeof option !== undefined) {
+								const newSetting = option ? 'continue' : 'fail';
+								const needsSetting = newSetting === 'continue';
+								throw new Error(
+									`${keypath} has been removed in favor of \`onError\`. In your case, set \`onError\` to "${newSetting}"${
+										needsSetting ? '' : ' (or leave it undefined)'
+									} to get the same behavior as you would with \`force: ${JSON.stringify(option)}\``
+								);
+							}
+						}
+					},
 					onError: {
 						type: 'leaf',
 						default: 'fail',
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/core/config/test/index.js b/packages/kit/src/core/config/test/index.js
index 84d5fc784a49b..c378835273adc 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/core/config/test/index.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/core/config/test/index.js
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ async function testLoadDefaultConfig(path) {
 				exclude: []
 			},
 			paths: { base: '', assets: '/.' },
-			prerender: { crawl: true, enabled: true, onError: 'fail', pages: ['*'] },
+			prerender: { crawl: true, enabled: true, force: undefined, onError: 'fail', pages: ['*'] },
 			router: true,
 			ssr: true,
 			target: null,