diff --git a/build/fbcode_builder/getdeps.py b/build/fbcode_builder/getdeps.py
index 514c3c532..37af80be1 100755
--- a/build/fbcode_builder/getdeps.py
+++ b/build/fbcode_builder/getdeps.py
@@ -207,6 +207,12 @@ def build_argparser():
             "(default=number of cpu cores)"
         ),
     )
+    common_args.add_argument(
+        "--use-shipit",
+        help="use the real ShipIt instead of the simple shipit transformer",
+        action="store_true",
+        default=False,
+    )
 
     ap = argparse.ArgumentParser(
         description="Get and build dependencies and projects", parents=[common_args]
diff --git a/build/fbcode_builder/getdeps/buildopts.py b/build/fbcode_builder/getdeps/buildopts.py
index 9fbdbcf71..da6cdca08 100644
--- a/build/fbcode_builder/getdeps/buildopts.py
+++ b/build/fbcode_builder/getdeps/buildopts.py
@@ -30,7 +30,13 @@ def containing_repo_type(path):
 
 class BuildOptions(object):
     def __init__(
-        self, fbcode_builder_dir, scratch_dir, host_type, install_dir=None, num_jobs=0
+        self,
+        fbcode_builder_dir,
+        scratch_dir,
+        host_type,
+        install_dir=None,
+        num_jobs=0,
+        use_shipit=False,
     ):
         """ fbcode_builder_dir - the path to either the in-fbsource fbcode_builder dir,
                                  or for shipit-transformed repos, the build dir that
@@ -42,6 +48,7 @@ class BuildOptions(object):
                           for builds outside of FB
             install_dir - where the project will ultimately be installed
             num_jobs - the level of concurrency to use while building
+            use_shipit - use real shipit instead of the simple shipit transformer
         """
         if not num_jobs:
             import multiprocessing
@@ -71,6 +78,7 @@ class BuildOptions(object):
         self.install_dir = install_dir
         self.fbcode_builder_dir = fbcode_builder_dir
         self.host_type = host_type
+        self.use_shipit = use_shipit
 
     def is_darwin(self):
         return self.host_type.is_darwin()
@@ -223,4 +231,5 @@ def setup_build_options(args, host_type=None):
         host_type,
         install_dir=args.install_prefix,
         num_jobs=args.num_jobs,
+        use_shipit=args.use_shipit,
     )
diff --git a/build/fbcode_builder/getdeps/manifest.py b/build/fbcode_builder/getdeps/manifest.py
index 494dee253..ece21b5e5 100644
--- a/build/fbcode_builder/getdeps/manifest.py
+++ b/build/fbcode_builder/getdeps/manifest.py
@@ -272,9 +272,15 @@ class ManifestParser(object):
         return d
 
     def create_fetcher(self, build_options, ctx):
-        # TODO: add a build_option flag to force using ShipitTransformerFetcher
-        # instead of this in CI environments
-        if self.fbsource_path and build_options.fbsource_dir and self.shipit_project:
+        use_real_shipit = (
+            ShipitTransformerFetcher.available() and build_options.use_shipit
+        )
+        if (
+            not use_real_shipit
+            and self.fbsource_path
+            and build_options.fbsource_dir
+            and self.shipit_project
+        ):
             return SimpleShipitTransformerFetcher(build_options, self)
 
         if (