diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/cmd/reinstall.rb b/Library/Homebrew/cmd/reinstall.rb
index e7abd8d4db..e5ba1c8f4a 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/cmd/reinstall.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/cmd/reinstall.rb
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ module Homebrew extend self
     # At first save the named formulae and remove them from ARGV
     named = ARGV.named
     ARGV.delete_if { |arg| named.include? arg }
+    # We add --force because then uninstall always succeeds and so reinstall
+    # works for formulae not yet installed.
+    ARGV << "--force"
     clean_ARGV = ARGV.clone
 
     # Add the used_options for each named formula separately so