diff --git a/cmd/destroy.go b/cmd/destroy.go
index ec3d15849..bc741031f 100644
--- a/cmd/destroy.go
+++ b/cmd/destroy.go
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@ func newDestroyCmd() *cobra.Command {
 	var showConfig bool
 	var showReplacementSteps bool
 	var showSames bool
-	var nonInteractive bool
 	var skipPreview bool
 	var yes bool
 
@@ -58,7 +57,7 @@ func newDestroyCmd() *cobra.Command {
 			"is generally irreversible and should be used with great care.",
 		Args: cmdutil.NoArgs,
 		Run: cmdutil.RunFunc(func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-			interactive := isInteractive(nonInteractive)
+			interactive := isInteractive()
 			if !interactive {
 				yes = true // auto-approve changes, since we cannot prompt.
 			}
@@ -130,8 +129,6 @@ func newDestroyCmd() *cobra.Command {
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(
 		&diffDisplay, "diff", false,
 		"Display operation as a rich diff showing the overall change")
-	cmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(
-		&nonInteractive, "non-interactive", false, "Disable interactive mode")
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().IntVarP(
 		&parallel, "parallel", "p", defaultParallel,
 		"Allow P resource operations to run in parallel at once (<=1 for no parallelism)")
diff --git a/cmd/new.go b/cmd/new.go
index 1a8152cfa..c5b5396cb 100644
--- a/cmd/new.go
+++ b/cmd/new.go
@@ -57,7 +57,6 @@ func newNewCmd() *cobra.Command {
 	var offline bool
 	var generateOnly bool
 	var dir string
-	var nonInteractive bool
 
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:        "new [template]",
@@ -65,7 +64,7 @@ func newNewCmd() *cobra.Command {
 		Short:      "Create a new Pulumi project",
 		Args:       cmdutil.MaximumNArgs(1),
 		Run: cmdutil.RunFunc(func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-			interactive := isInteractive(nonInteractive)
+			interactive := isInteractive()
 			if !interactive {
 				yes = true // auto-approve changes, since we cannot prompt.
 			}
@@ -335,8 +334,6 @@ func newNewCmd() *cobra.Command {
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(
 		&dir, "dir", "",
 		"The location to place the generated project; if not specified, the current directory is used")
-	cmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(
-		&nonInteractive, "non-interactive", false, "Disable interactive mode")
 
 	return cmd
 }
diff --git a/cmd/preview.go b/cmd/preview.go
index 965580f54..86c5a8d85 100644
--- a/cmd/preview.go
+++ b/cmd/preview.go
@@ -33,7 +33,6 @@ func newPreviewCmd() *cobra.Command {
 	// Flags for engine.UpdateOptions.
 	var analyzers []string
 	var diffDisplay bool
-	var nonInteractive bool
 	var parallel int
 	var showConfig bool
 	var showReplacementSteps bool
@@ -68,7 +67,7 @@ func newPreviewCmd() *cobra.Command {
 					ShowConfig:           showConfig,
 					ShowReplacementSteps: showReplacementSteps,
 					ShowSameResources:    showSames,
-					IsInteractive:        isInteractive(nonInteractive),
+					IsInteractive:        isInteractive(),
 					DiffDisplay:          diffDisplay,
 					Debug:                debug,
 				},
@@ -128,8 +127,6 @@ func newPreviewCmd() *cobra.Command {
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(
 		&diffDisplay, "diff", false,
 		"Display operation as a rich diff showing the overall change")
-	cmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(
-		&nonInteractive, "non-interactive", false, "Disable interactive mode")
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().IntVarP(
 		&parallel, "parallel", "p", defaultParallel,
 		"Allow P resource operations to run in parallel at once (<=1 for no parallelism)")
diff --git a/cmd/pulumi.go b/cmd/pulumi.go
index ae86cbea5..9ed92c589 100644
--- a/cmd/pulumi.go
+++ b/cmd/pulumi.go
@@ -134,6 +134,8 @@ func NewPulumiCmd() *cobra.Command {
 		"Flow log settings to child processes (like plugins)")
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(&logToStderr, "logtostderr", false,
 		"Log to stderr instead of to files")
+	cmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(&nonInteractive, "non-interactive", false,
+		"Disable interactive mode for all commands")
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&tracing, "tracing", "",
 		"Emit tracing to a Zipkin-compatible tracing endpoint")
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&profiling, "profiling", "",
diff --git a/cmd/refresh.go b/cmd/refresh.go
index 39569b146..06cb01154 100644
--- a/cmd/refresh.go
+++ b/cmd/refresh.go
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@ func newRefreshCmd() *cobra.Command {
 	var showConfig bool
 	var showReplacementSteps bool
 	var showSames bool
-	var nonInteractive bool
 	var skipPreview bool
 	var yes bool
 
@@ -57,7 +56,7 @@ func newRefreshCmd() *cobra.Command {
 			"`--cwd` flag to use a different directory.",
 		Args: cmdutil.NoArgs,
 		Run: cmdutil.RunFunc(func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-			interactive := isInteractive(nonInteractive)
+			interactive := isInteractive()
 			if !interactive {
 				yes = true // auto-approve changes, since we cannot prompt.
 			}
@@ -139,8 +138,6 @@ func newRefreshCmd() *cobra.Command {
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(
 		&diffDisplay, "diff", false,
 		"Display operation as a rich diff showing the overall change")
-	cmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(
-		&nonInteractive, "non-interactive", false, "Disable interactive mode")
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().IntVarP(
 		&parallel, "parallel", "p", defaultParallel,
 		"Allow P resource operations to run in parallel at once (<=1 for no parallelism)")
diff --git a/cmd/up.go b/cmd/up.go
index 884596062..0d97eef58 100644
--- a/cmd/up.go
+++ b/cmd/up.go
@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ func newUpCmd() *cobra.Command {
 	// Flags for engine.UpdateOptions.
 	var analyzers []string
 	var diffDisplay bool
-	var nonInteractive bool
 	var parallel int
 	var refresh bool
 	var showConfig bool
@@ -273,7 +272,7 @@ func newUpCmd() *cobra.Command {
 			"`--cwd` flag to use a different directory.",
 		Args: cmdutil.MaximumNArgs(1),
 		Run: cmdutil.RunFunc(func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-			interactive := isInteractive(nonInteractive)
+			interactive := isInteractive()
 			if !interactive {
 				yes = true // auto-approve changes, since we cannot prompt.
 			}
@@ -325,8 +324,6 @@ func newUpCmd() *cobra.Command {
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(
 		&diffDisplay, "diff", false,
 		"Display operation as a rich diff showing the overall change")
-	cmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(
-		&nonInteractive, "non-interactive", false, "Disable interactive mode")
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().IntVarP(
 		&parallel, "parallel", "p", defaultParallel,
 		"Allow P resource operations to run in parallel at once (<=1 for no parallelism)")
diff --git a/cmd/util.go b/cmd/util.go
index 04f8603ed..119131cea 100644
--- a/cmd/util.go
+++ b/cmd/util.go
@@ -578,9 +578,13 @@ func printJSON(v interface{}) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// isInteractive returns true if the environment and command line options indicate we should
-// do things interactively
-func isInteractive(nonInteractive bool) bool {
+// nonInteractive may be set to true in order to disable prompts. This is useful when running in a non-attended
+// scenario, such as in continuous integration, or when using the Pulumi CLI/SDK in a programmatic way.
+var nonInteractive bool
+
+// isInteractive returns true if the environment and command line options indicate we should do things interactively.
+// It respects the nonInteractive flag as an override, but otherwise defaults by reading the terminal and CI settings.
+func isInteractive() bool {
 	return !nonInteractive && terminal.IsTerminal(int(os.Stdout.Fd())) && !testutil.IsCI()
 }