diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2e14c9101..6595fb308 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 ### Improvements
 
+- When trying to `stack rm` a stack managed by pulumi.com that has resources, the error message now informs you to pass `--force` if you really want to remove a stack that still has resources under management, as this would orphan these resources (fixes [pulumi/pulumi#2431](https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi/issues/2431)).
+
 ## 0.16.14 (Released January 31th, 2019)
 
 ### Improvements
diff --git a/pkg/backend/httpstate/client/client.go b/pkg/backend/httpstate/client/client.go
index 5e7939eb8..64e3e51e2 100644
--- a/pkg/backend/httpstate/client/client.go
+++ b/pkg/backend/httpstate/client/client.go
@@ -243,13 +243,27 @@ func (pc *Client) CreateStack(
 // DeleteStack deletes the indicated stack. If force is true, the stack is deleted even if it contains resources.
 func (pc *Client) DeleteStack(ctx context.Context, stack StackIdentifier, force bool) (bool, error) {
 	path := getStackPath(stack)
-	if force {
-		path += "?force=true"
+	queryObj := struct {
+		Force bool `url:"force"`
+	}{
+		Force: force,
 	}
 
-	// TODO[pulumi/pulumi-service#196] When the service returns a well known response for "this stack still has
-	//     resources and `force` was not true", we should sniff for that message and return a true for the boolean.
-	return false, pc.restCall(ctx, "DELETE", path, nil, nil, nil)
+	err := pc.restCall(ctx, "DELETE", path, queryObj, nil, nil)
+	return isStackHasResourcesError(err), err
+}
+
+func isStackHasResourcesError(err error) bool {
+	if err == nil {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	errRsp, ok := err.(*apitype.ErrorResponse)
+	if !ok {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	return errRsp.Code == 400 && errRsp.Message == "Bad Request: Stack still contains resources."
 }
 
 // EncryptValue encrypts a plaintext value in the context of the indicated stack.
diff --git a/tests/integration/integration_test.go b/tests/integration/integration_test.go
index 0560400e1..53bd7b2ab 100644
--- a/tests/integration/integration_test.go
+++ b/tests/integration/integration_test.go
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/pulumi/pulumi/pkg/util/contract"
+
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 
 	"github.com/pulumi/pulumi/pkg/apitype"
@@ -207,6 +209,31 @@ func TestStackTagValidation(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+func TestRemoveWithResourcesBlocked(t *testing.T) {
+	if os.Getenv("PULUMI_ACCESS_TOKEN") == "" {
+		t.Skipf("Skipping: PULUMI_ACCESS_TOKEN is not set")
+	}
+
+	e := ptesting.NewEnvironment(t)
+	defer func() {
+		if !t.Failed() {
+			e.DeleteEnvironment()
+		}
+	}()
+
+	stackName, err := resource.NewUniqueHex("rm-test-", 8, -1)
+	contract.AssertNoErrorf(err, "resource.NewUniqueHex sould not fail with no maximum length is set")
+
+	e.ImportDirectory(filepath.Join("empty", "nodejs"))
+	e.RunCommand("pulumi", "stack", "init", stackName)
+	e.RunCommand("yarn", "link", "@pulumi/pulumi")
+	e.RunCommand("pulumi", "up", "--non-interactive", "--skip-preview")
+	_, stderr := e.RunCommandExpectError("pulumi", "stack", "rm", "--yes")
+	assert.Contains(t, stderr, "--force")
+	e.RunCommand("pulumi", "destroy", "--skip-preview", "--non-interactive", "--yes")
+	e.RunCommand("pulumi", "stack", "rm", "--yes")
+}
+
 // TestStackOutputs ensures we can export variables from a stack and have them get recorded as outputs.
 func TestStackOutputsNodeJS(t *testing.T) {
 	integration.ProgramTest(t, &integration.ProgramTestOptions{