diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 22fbc26..fe09775 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ the right `-var-file` flags every time is tedious and error-prone. `tf` does it
     pass through
   - **plan, apply, etc.** auto-run `terraform init` with backend config, then inject
     `-var-file` flags
+  - **force-unlock** auto-runs `terraform init` with backend config so the lock can be located,
+    but does not inject `-var-file` flags
 - `tf plan` automatically saves a binary plan to `/tmp/<profile>.tfplan` (view with
   `tf show /tmp/<profile>.tfplan`). Skipped if the user passes their own `-out` flag.
 - `tf apply` automatically appends `-auto-approve`, since locally the plan has already been
diff --git a/bin/tf b/bin/tf
index f9c9854..e273c12 100755
--- a/bin/tf
+++ b/bin/tf
@@ -168,7 +168,9 @@ SUBCOMMANDS_ACCEPTING_VAR_FILE = frozenset({
     "plan", "apply", "destroy", "import", "refresh", "console",
 })
 
-SUBCOMMANDS_NEEDING_BACKEND = SUBCOMMANDS_ACCEPTING_VAR_FILE | {"init"}
+SUBCOMMANDS_NEEDING_BACKEND = SUBCOMMANDS_ACCEPTING_VAR_FILE | {
+    "init", "force-unlock",
+}
 
 SUBCOMMANDS_NEEDING_DATA_DIR = frozenset({"show", "output", "state"})
 
@@ -252,15 +254,21 @@ class TfRunner:
 
         self._run_init(backend)
 
-        tfvars = TfVarsFiles.find(context)
+        if self.subcommand in SUBCOMMANDS_ACCEPTING_VAR_FILE:
+            tfvars = TfVarsFiles.find(context)
 
-        if tfvars.is_using_deprecated_filenames():
-            print(
-                f"tf: using account-ID tfvars (deprecated). Rename to {context.profile}.tfvars.",
-                file=sys.stderr,
-            )
+            if tfvars.is_using_deprecated_filenames():
+                print(
+                    f"tf: using account-ID tfvars (deprecated). Rename to {context.profile}.tfvars.",
+                    file=sys.stderr,
+                )
+
+            command = self.build_command(tfvars)
 
-        command = self.build_command(tfvars)
+            if list(tfvars):
+                print(f"tf: var-files: {', '.join(tfvars)}", file=sys.stderr)
+        else:
+            command = ["terraform"] + self.args
 
         if self.subcommand == "plan" and not self._has_out_flag():
             out_path = f"/tmp/{context.profile}.tfplan"
@@ -271,9 +279,6 @@ class TfRunner:
             command.append("-auto-approve")
             print("tf: auto-approving apply", file=sys.stderr)
 
-        if list(tfvars):
-            print(f"tf: var-files: {', '.join(tfvars)}", file=sys.stderr)
-
         os.execvp("terraform", command)
 
     def _has_out_flag(self) -> bool:
diff --git a/tests/test_main.py b/tests/test_main.py
index 1b8ef62..7aaf4af 100644
--- a/tests/test_main.py
+++ b/tests/test_main.py
@@ -374,3 +374,103 @@ def test_apply_does_not_add_out_flag(self, monkeypatch):
 
         command = mock_execvp.call_args[0][1]
         assert not any(arg.startswith("-out=") for arg in command)
+
+
+class TestTfRunnerForceUnlock:
+    def test_force_unlock_runs_init_before_command(self, monkeypatch):
+        monkeypatch.setenv("AWS_VAULT", "staging")
+        monkeypatch.setenv("AWS_DEFAULT_REGION", "eu-west-1")
+
+        with patch("tf.TfBackend._get_repo_name", return_value="my-repo"), \
+             patch("tf.TfVarsFiles._get_account_id", return_value="123456789012"), \
+             patch("tf.subprocess.run") as mock_run, \
+             patch("tf.os.execvp"):
+            mock_run.return_value.returncode = 0
+            tf.TfRunner(["force-unlock", "abc123"]).call()
+
+        init_command = mock_run.call_args[0][0]
+        assert init_command[0] == "terraform"
+        assert init_command[1] == "init"
+        assert any(arg.startswith("-backend-config=bucket=") for arg in init_command)
+
+    def test_force_unlock_sets_tf_data_dir(self, monkeypatch):
+        monkeypatch.setenv("AWS_VAULT", "staging")
+        monkeypatch.setenv("AWS_DEFAULT_REGION", "eu-west-1")
+        monkeypatch.delenv("TF_DATA_DIR", raising=False)
+
+        with patch("tf.TfBackend._get_repo_name", return_value="my-repo"), \
+             patch("tf.TfVarsFiles._get_account_id", return_value="123456789012"), \
+             patch("tf.subprocess.run", return_value=type("R", (), {"returncode": 0})()), \
+             patch("tf.os.execvp"):
+            tf.TfRunner(["force-unlock", "abc123"]).call()
+
+        assert os.environ["TF_DATA_DIR"] == ".terraform.123456789012-eu-west-1"
+
+    def test_force_unlock_does_not_inject_var_files(self, monkeypatch):
+        monkeypatch.setenv("AWS_VAULT", "staging")
+        monkeypatch.setenv("AWS_DEFAULT_REGION", "eu-west-1")
+
+        with patch("tf.TfBackend._get_repo_name", return_value="my-repo"), \
+             patch("tf.TfVarsFiles._get_account_id", return_value="123456789012"), \
+             patch("tf.TfVarsFiles.find",
+                   return_value=tf.TfVarsFiles(["staging.tfvars"])), \
+             patch("tf.subprocess.run", return_value=type("R", (), {"returncode": 0})()), \
+             patch("tf.os.execvp") as mock_execvp:
+            tf.TfRunner(["force-unlock", "abc123"]).call()
+
+        command = mock_execvp.call_args[0][1]
+        assert "-var-file" not in command
+        assert "staging.tfvars" not in command
+
+    def test_force_unlock_does_not_search_for_tfvars(self, monkeypatch):
+        monkeypatch.setenv("AWS_VAULT", "staging")
+        monkeypatch.setenv("AWS_DEFAULT_REGION", "eu-west-1")
+
+        with patch("tf.TfBackend._get_repo_name", return_value="my-repo"), \
+             patch("tf.TfVarsFiles._get_account_id", return_value="123456789012"), \
+             patch("tf.TfVarsFiles.find") as mock_find, \
+             patch("tf.subprocess.run", return_value=type("R", (), {"returncode": 0})()), \
+             patch("tf.os.execvp"):
+            tf.TfRunner(["force-unlock", "abc123"]).call()
+
+        mock_find.assert_not_called()
+
+    def test_force_unlock_does_not_add_auto_approve(self, monkeypatch):
+        monkeypatch.setenv("AWS_VAULT", "staging")
+        monkeypatch.setenv("AWS_DEFAULT_REGION", "eu-west-1")
+
+        with patch("tf.TfBackend._get_repo_name", return_value="my-repo"), \
+             patch("tf.TfVarsFiles._get_account_id", return_value="123456789012"), \
+             patch("tf.subprocess.run", return_value=type("R", (), {"returncode": 0})()), \
+             patch("tf.os.execvp") as mock_execvp:
+            tf.TfRunner(["force-unlock", "abc123"]).call()
+
+        command = mock_execvp.call_args[0][1]
+        assert "-auto-approve" not in command
+
+    def test_force_unlock_does_not_add_out_flag(self, monkeypatch):
+        monkeypatch.setenv("AWS_VAULT", "staging")
+        monkeypatch.setenv("AWS_DEFAULT_REGION", "eu-west-1")
+
+        with patch("tf.TfBackend._get_repo_name", return_value="my-repo"), \
+             patch("tf.TfVarsFiles._get_account_id", return_value="123456789012"), \
+             patch("tf.subprocess.run", return_value=type("R", (), {"returncode": 0})()), \
+             patch("tf.os.execvp") as mock_execvp:
+            tf.TfRunner(["force-unlock", "abc123"]).call()
+
+        command = mock_execvp.call_args[0][1]
+        assert not any(arg.startswith("-out=") for arg in command)
+
+    def test_force_unlock_passes_lock_id_through(self, monkeypatch):
+        monkeypatch.setenv("AWS_VAULT", "staging")
+        monkeypatch.setenv("AWS_DEFAULT_REGION", "eu-west-1")
+
+        with patch("tf.TfBackend._get_repo_name", return_value="my-repo"), \
+             patch("tf.TfVarsFiles._get_account_id", return_value="123456789012"), \
+             patch("tf.subprocess.run", return_value=type("R", (), {"returncode": 0})()), \
+             patch("tf.os.execvp") as mock_execvp:
+            tf.TfRunner(["force-unlock", "abc123"]).call()
+
+        mock_execvp.assert_called_once_with(
+            "terraform", ["terraform", "force-unlock", "abc123"]
+        )