diff --git a/cmd/state/internal/cmdtree/checkout.go b/cmd/state/internal/cmdtree/checkout.go
index bf7e7eb25b..39c863cc6d 100644
--- a/cmd/state/internal/cmdtree/checkout.go
+++ b/cmd/state/internal/cmdtree/checkout.go
@@ -34,6 +34,12 @@ func newCheckoutCommand(prime *primer.Values) *captain.Command {
 				Description: locale.Tl("flag_state_checkout_no_clone_description", "Do not clone the github repository associated with this project (if any)"),
 				Value:       &params.NoClone,
 			},
+			{
+				Name:        "force",
+				Shorthand:   "f",
+				Description: locale.Tl("flag_state_checkout_force", "Leave a failed project checkout on disk; do not delete it"),
+				Value:       &params.Force,
+			},
 		},
 		[]*captain.Argument{
 			{
diff --git a/internal/runners/checkout/checkout.go b/internal/runners/checkout/checkout.go
index 379f288b3a..721343e914 100644
--- a/internal/runners/checkout/checkout.go
+++ b/internal/runners/checkout/checkout.go
@@ -1,11 +1,16 @@
 package checkout
 
 import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+
 	"github.com/ActiveState/cli/internal/analytics"
 	"github.com/ActiveState/cli/internal/config"
 	"github.com/ActiveState/cli/internal/errs"
 	"github.com/ActiveState/cli/internal/locale"
 	"github.com/ActiveState/cli/internal/logging"
+	"github.com/ActiveState/cli/internal/multilog"
+	"github.com/ActiveState/cli/internal/osutils"
 	"github.com/ActiveState/cli/internal/output"
 	"github.com/ActiveState/cli/internal/primer"
 	"github.com/ActiveState/cli/internal/runbits/checker"
@@ -26,6 +31,7 @@ type Params struct {
 	Branch        string
 	RuntimePath   string
 	NoClone       bool
+	Force         bool
 }
 
 type primeable interface {
@@ -77,6 +83,28 @@ func (u *Checkout) Run(params *Params) (rerr error) {
 		return locale.WrapError(err, "err_project_frompath")
 	}
 
+	// If an error occurs, remove the created activestate.yaml file and/or directory.
+	if !params.Force {
+		defer func() {
+			if rerr == nil {
+				return
+			}
+			err := os.Remove(proj.Path())
+			if err != nil {
+				multilog.Error("Failed to remove activestate.yaml after `state checkout` error: %v", err)
+				return
+			}
+			if cwd, err := osutils.Getwd(); err == nil {
+				if createdDir := filepath.Dir(proj.Path()); createdDir != cwd {
+					err2 := os.RemoveAll(createdDir)
+					if err2 != nil {
+						multilog.Error("Failed to remove created directory after `state checkout` error: %v", err2)
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		}()
+	}
+
 	rti, err := runtime.NewFromProject(proj, target.TriggerCheckout, u.analytics, u.svcModel, u.out, u.auth)
 	if err != nil {
 		return locale.WrapError(err, "err_checkout_runtime_new", "Could not checkout this project.")
diff --git a/test/integration/checkout_int_test.go b/test/integration/checkout_int_test.go
index f156810d32..f39eb0161c 100644
--- a/test/integration/checkout_int_test.go
+++ b/test/integration/checkout_int_test.go
@@ -297,6 +297,36 @@ func (suite *CheckoutIntegrationTestSuite) TestCheckoutBuildtimeClosure() {
 	cp.ExpectExitCode(0)
 }
 
+func (suite *CheckoutIntegrationTestSuite) TestFail() {
+	suite.OnlyRunForTags(tagsuite.Checkout)
+	ts := e2e.New(suite.T(), false)
+	defer ts.Close()
+
+	cp := ts.SpawnWithOpts(
+		e2e.OptArgs("checkout", "ActiveState-CLI/fail"),
+		e2e.OptAppendEnv(constants.DisableRuntime+"=false"),
+	)
+	cp.Expect("Something went wrong")
+	cp.ExpectNotExitCode(0)
+	suite.Assert().NoDirExists(filepath.Join(ts.Dirs.Work, "fail"), "state checkout fail did not remove created directory")
+
+	cp = ts.SpawnWithOpts(
+		e2e.OptArgs("checkout", "ActiveState-CLI/fail", "."),
+		e2e.OptAppendEnv(constants.DisableRuntime+"=false"),
+	)
+	cp.Expect("Something went wrong")
+	cp.ExpectNotExitCode(0)
+	suite.Assert().NoFileExists(filepath.Join(ts.Dirs.Work, constants.ConfigFileName), "state checkout fail did not remove created activestate.yaml")
+
+	cp = ts.SpawnWithOpts(
+		e2e.OptArgs("checkout", "ActiveState-CLI/fail", "--force"),
+		e2e.OptAppendEnv(constants.DisableRuntime+"=false"),
+	)
+	cp.Expect("Something went wrong")
+	cp.ExpectNotExitCode(0)
+	suite.Assert().DirExists(filepath.Join(ts.Dirs.Work, "fail"), "state checkout fail did not leave created directory there despite --force flag override")
+}
+
 func TestCheckoutIntegrationTestSuite(t *testing.T) {
 	suite.Run(t, new(CheckoutIntegrationTestSuite))
 }