diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 14e6a0b4..41a9f150 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -72,6 +72,8 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/).
 
 - Refactored `wwctl <node|profile> set` to use cobra `cmd.Flags().Changed()` to
   apply only explicitly-set fields.
+- Deprecated `wwctl node set --force` (never had any effect; will be removed in
+  a future release)
 - Runtime overlay download failure during dracut/wwinit boot is now non-fatal;
   the node continues to boot and `wwclient` retries the download at runtime.
 - `hosts` overlay added to the default system overlay list
diff --git a/internal/app/wwctl/node/set/root.go b/internal/app/wwctl/node/set/root.go
index 7176c229..190dacef 100644
--- a/internal/app/wwctl/node/set/root.go
+++ b/internal/app/wwctl/node/set/root.go
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ func GetCommand() *cobra.Command {
 	baseCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&vars.setNodeAll, "all", "a", false, "Set all nodes")
 	baseCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&vars.setYes, "yes", "y", false, "Set 'yes' to all questions asked")
 	baseCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&vars.setForce, "force", "f", false, "Force configuration (even on error)")
+	_ = baseCmd.PersistentFlags().MarkDeprecated("force", "this flag never had any effect and will be removed in a future release")
+	_ = baseCmd.PersistentFlags().MarkHidden("force")
 	// register the command line completions
 	if err := baseCmd.RegisterFlagCompletionFunc("image", completions.Images); err != nil {
 		panic(err)