diff --git a/packages/cli/src/modules/lint/alpha.ts b/packages/cli/src/modules/lint/alpha.ts
index 8703e73b5e..c7b9ab66ed 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/modules/lint/alpha.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/modules/lint/alpha.ts
@@ -76,6 +76,10 @@ export default createCliPlugin({
           '--since <ref>',
           'Only lint packages that changed since the specified ref',
         );
+        command.option(
+          '--max-warnings <number>',
+          'Fail if more than this number of warnings. -1 allows warnings. (default: 0)',
+        );
         command.description('Lint a repository');
         command.action(lazy(() => import('./commands/repo/lint'), 'command'));
 
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/modules/lint/commands/repo/lint.ts b/packages/cli/src/modules/lint/commands/repo/lint.ts
index 15a3584020..246324785e 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/modules/lint/commands/repo/lint.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/modules/lint/commands/repo/lint.ts
@@ -111,6 +111,7 @@ export async function command(opts: OptionValues, cmd: Command): Promise<void> {
       fix: Boolean(opts.fix),
       format: opts.format as string | undefined,
       shouldCache: Boolean(cacheContext),
+      maxWarnings: Number(opts.maxWarnings) || 0,
       successCache: cacheContext?.entries,
       rootDir: paths.targetRoot,
     },
@@ -120,6 +121,7 @@ export async function command(opts: OptionValues, cmd: Command): Promise<void> {
       shouldCache,
       successCache,
       rootDir,
+      maxWarnings,
     }) => {
       const { ESLint } = require('eslint') as typeof import('eslint');
       const crypto = require('crypto') as typeof import('crypto');
@@ -131,7 +133,6 @@ export async function command(opts: OptionValues, cmd: Command): Promise<void> {
       return async ({
         fullDir,
         relativeDir,
-        lintOptions,
         parentHash,
       }): Promise<{
         relativeDir: string;
@@ -199,7 +200,6 @@ export async function command(opts: OptionValues, cmd: Command): Promise<void> {
           await ESLint.outputFixes(results);
         }
 
-        const maxWarnings = lintOptions?.maxWarnings ?? 0;
         const ignoreWarnings = +maxWarnings === -1;
 
         const resultText = formatter.format(results) as string;
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/modules/lint/index.ts b/packages/cli/src/modules/lint/index.ts
index e2bfcd0779..5be76d8928 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/modules/lint/index.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/modules/lint/index.ts
@@ -62,6 +62,10 @@ export function registerRepoCommands(command: Command) {
       '--successCacheDir <path>',
       'Set the success cache location, (default: node_modules/.cache/backstage-cli)',
     )
+    .option(
+      '--max-warnings <number>',
+      'Fail if more than this number of warnings. -1 allows warnings. (default: 0)',
+    )
     .option('--fix', 'Attempt to automatically fix violations')
     .action(lazy(() => import('./commands/repo/lint'), 'command'));
 }