diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/dev-cmd/linkage.rb b/Library/Homebrew/dev-cmd/linkage.rb
index 391a129365..fe733e6a32 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/dev-cmd/linkage.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/dev-cmd/linkage.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#:  * `linkage` [`--test`] [`--reverse`] [`--rebuild`] <formula>:
+#:  * `linkage` [`--test`] [`--reverse`] [`--cached`] <formula>:
 #:    Checks the library links of an installed formula.
 #:
 #:    Only works on installed formulae. An error is raised if it is run on
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@
 #:    If `--reverse` is passed, print the dylib followed by the binaries
 #:    which link to it for each library the keg references.
 #:
-#:    If `--rebuild` is passed, flushes the `LinkageStore` cache for each
-#:    'keg.name' and forces a check on the dylibs.
+#:    If `--cached` is passed, print the cached linkage values stored in
+#:    HOMEBREW_CACHE, set from a previous `brew linkage` run
 
 require "cache_store"
 require "linkage_checker"
@@ -24,7 +24,8 @@ module Homebrew
       ARGV.kegs.each do |keg|
         ohai "Checking #{keg.name} linkage" if ARGV.kegs.size > 1
 
-        result = LinkageChecker.new(keg, database_cache, ARGV.include?("--rebuild"))
+        use_cache = ARGV.include?("--cached") || ENV["HOMEBREW_LINKAGE_CACHE"]
+        result = LinkageChecker.new(keg, database_cache, use_cache)
 
         if ARGV.include?("--test")
           result.display_test_output
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/extend/os/mac/formula_cellar_checks.rb b/Library/Homebrew/extend/os/mac/formula_cellar_checks.rb
index 14be2f3b7e..f7e3a16935 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/extend/os/mac/formula_cellar_checks.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/extend/os/mac/formula_cellar_checks.rb
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ module FormulaCellarChecks
     return unless formula.prefix.directory?
     keg = Keg.new(formula.prefix)
 
-    DatabaseCache.new(:linkage) { |database_cache| LinkageChecker.new(keg, database_cache, true, formula) }
+    DatabaseCache.new(:linkage) { |database_cache| LinkageChecker.new(keg, database_cache, false, formula) }
 
     return unless checker.broken_dylibs?
     output = <<~EOS
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/linkage_checker.rb b/Library/Homebrew/linkage_checker.rb
index 0cf05441ea..a21d3a7cd5 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/linkage_checker.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/linkage_checker.rb
@@ -6,11 +6,11 @@ require "linkage_cache_store"
 class LinkageChecker
   attr_reader :keg, :formula, :store
 
-  def initialize(keg, db, rebuild_cache = false, formula = nil)
+  def initialize(keg, db, use_cache = false, formula = nil)
     @keg = keg
     @formula = formula || resolve_formula(keg)
     @store = LinkageStore.new(keg.name, db)
-    flush_cache_and_check_dylibs if rebuild_cache
+    flush_cache_and_check_dylibs unless use_cache
   end
 
   # 'Hash-type' cache values