diff --git a/invokeai/backend/install/check_root.py b/invokeai/backend/install/check_root.py
index a24bc76295..ee8f6c4b6d 100644
--- a/invokeai/backend/install/check_root.py
+++ b/invokeai/backend/install/check_root.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import sys
 from invokeai.app.services.config import InvokeAIAppConfig
 
 
+# TODO(psyche): Should this also check for things like ESRGAN models, database, etc?
 def validate_root_structure(config: InvokeAIAppConfig) -> None:
     assert config.db_path.parent.exists(), f"{config.db_path.parent} not found"
     assert config.models_path.exists(), f"{config.models_path} not found"
diff --git a/invokeai/frontend/cli/arg_parser.py b/invokeai/frontend/cli/arg_parser.py
index 8f58d0e391..0df2b67b7c 100644
--- a/invokeai/frontend/cli/arg_parser.py
+++ b/invokeai/frontend/cli/arg_parser.py
@@ -3,13 +3,19 @@ from typing import Optional
 
 from invokeai.version import __version__
 
-_root_help = r"""Sets a root directory for the app. If omitted, the app will search for the root directory in the following order:
+_root_help = r"""Sets a root directory for the app.
+If omitted, the app will search for the root directory in the following order:
 - The `$INVOKEAI_ROOT` environment variable
 - The currently active virtual environment's parent directory
 - `$HOME/invokeai`"""
 
+_ignore_missing_core_models_help = r"""If set, the app will ignore missing core diffusers conversion models.
+These are required to use checkpoint/safetensors models.
+If you only use diffusers models, you can safely enable this."""
+
 _parser = ArgumentParser(description="Invoke Studio", formatter_class=RawTextHelpFormatter)
 _parser.add_argument("--root", type=str, help=_root_help)
+_parser.add_argument("--ignore_missing_core_models", action="store_true", help=_ignore_missing_core_models_help)
 _parser.add_argument("--version", action="version", version=__version__, help="Displays the version and exits.")