diff --git a/cmd/switch.go b/cmd/switch.go
index d9fb46f5..58927825 100644
--- a/cmd/switch.go
+++ b/cmd/switch.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/metal-stack/metal-go/api/models"
 	"github.com/metal-stack/metal-lib/pkg/genericcli"
 	"github.com/metal-stack/metal-lib/pkg/genericcli/printers"
+	"github.com/metal-stack/metal-lib/pkg/pointer"
 	"github.com/metal-stack/metalctl/cmd/sorters"
 	"github.com/metal-stack/metalctl/cmd/tableprinters"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
@@ -59,6 +60,9 @@ func newSwitchCmd(c *config) *cobra.Command {
 			genericcli.Must(cmd.RegisterFlagCompletionFunc("os-vendor", c.comp.SwitchOSVendorListCompletion))
 			genericcli.Must(cmd.RegisterFlagCompletionFunc("os-version", c.comp.SwitchOSVersionListCompletion))
 		},
+		DeleteCmdMutateFn: func(cmd *cobra.Command) {
+			cmd.Flags().Bool("force", false, "forcefully delete the switch accepting the risk that it still has machines connected to it")
+		},
 	}
 
 	switchDetailCmd := &cobra.Command{
@@ -222,7 +226,7 @@ func (c switchCmd) List() ([]*models.V1SwitchResponse, error) {
 }
 
 func (c switchCmd) Delete(id string) (*models.V1SwitchResponse, error) {
-	resp, err := c.client.SwitchOperations().DeleteSwitch(switch_operations.NewDeleteSwitchParams().WithID(id), nil)
+	resp, err := c.client.SwitchOperations().DeleteSwitch(switch_operations.NewDeleteSwitchParams().WithID(id).WithForce(pointer.Pointer(viper.GetBool("force"))), nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 8a847fd9..fa64f7d1 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -175,3 +175,5 @@ require (
 	sigs.k8s.io/yaml v1.4.0 // indirect
 	tailscale.com v1.54.1 // indirect
 )
+
+replace github.com/metal-stack/metal-go v0.32.0 => ../metal-go
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 28ac93ab..327bcb44 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -235,8 +235,6 @@ github.com/mdlayher/sdnotify v1.0.0 h1:Ma9XeLVN/l0qpyx1tNeMSeTjCPH6NtuD6/N9XdTlQ
 github.com/mdlayher/sdnotify v1.0.0/go.mod h1:HQUmpM4XgYkhDLtd+Uad8ZFK1T9D5+pNxnXQjCeJlGE=
 github.com/mdlayher/socket v0.5.1 h1:VZaqt6RkGkt2OE9l3GcC6nZkqD3xKeQLyfleW/uBcos=
 github.com/mdlayher/socket v0.5.1/go.mod h1:TjPLHI1UgwEv5J1B5q0zTZq12A/6H7nKmtTanQE37IQ=
-github.com/metal-stack/metal-go v0.32.0 h1:8wpKkyx36qw4oKB0tt/95uENrw40DkCFbjq7bFz3KMs=
-github.com/metal-stack/metal-go v0.32.0/go.mod h1:3MJTYCS4YJz8D8oteTKhjpaAKNMMjMKYDrIy9awHGtQ=
 github.com/metal-stack/metal-lib v0.17.0 h1:0fCRUtYweJ5wbUwiEalFGiHkEz0mZwTWQUIIo3Npzkw=
 github.com/metal-stack/metal-lib v0.17.0/go.mod h1:nyNGI4DZFOcWbSoq2Y6V3SHpFxuXBIqYBZHTb6cy//s=
 github.com/metal-stack/security v0.8.0 h1:tVaSDB9m5clwYrnLyaXfPy7mQlJTnmeoHscG+RUy/xo=