diff --git a/sqlx-cli/src/db.rs b/sqlx-cli/src/db.rs
index 9596dfae0..aaa1fc7aa 100644
--- a/sqlx-cli/src/db.rs
+++ b/sqlx-cli/src/db.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-use crate::migrator::DatabaseMigrator;
 use dialoguer::Confirmation;
 
 use anyhow::bail;
diff --git a/sqlx-cli/src/lib.rs b/sqlx-cli/src/lib.rs
index 96fbdce7a..a833fe0f1 100644
--- a/sqlx-cli/src/lib.rs
+++ b/sqlx-cli/src/lib.rs
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ pub enum Command {
     ///
     /// Saves data for all invocations of `query!()` and friends in the project so that it may be
     /// built in offline mode, i.e. so compilation does not require connecting to a running database.
-    /// Outputs to `sqlx-data.json` in the current directory.
+    /// Outputs to `sqlx-data.json` in the current directory, overwriting it if it already exists.
     ///
     /// Offline mode can be activated simply by removing `DATABASE_URL` from the environment or
     /// building without a `.env` file.
@@ -36,6 +36,10 @@ pub enum Command {
         /// Intended for use in CI.
         #[structopt(long)]
         check: bool,
+
+        /// Any arguments to pass to `cargo check`.
+        #[structopt(name = "Cargo args", last = true)]
+        cargo_args: Vec<String>,
     },
 }
 
@@ -77,8 +81,14 @@ pub async fn run(cmd: Command) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
             DatabaseCommand::Create => db::run_create().await?,
             DatabaseCommand::Drop => db::run_drop().await?,
         },
-        Command::Prepare { check: false } => prepare::run()?,
-        Command::Prepare { check: true } => prepare::check()?,
+        Command::Prepare {
+            check: false,
+            cargo_args,
+        } => prepare::run(cargo_args)?,
+        Command::Prepare {
+            check: true,
+            cargo_args,
+        } => prepare::check(cargo_args)?,
     };
 
     Ok(())
diff --git a/sqlx-cli/src/prepare.rs b/sqlx-cli/src/prepare.rs
index d701cb9f0..4ed0eec62 100644
--- a/sqlx-cli/src/prepare.rs
+++ b/sqlx-cli/src/prepare.rs
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ use url::Url;
 type QueryData = BTreeMap<String, serde_json::Value>;
 type JsonObject = serde_json::Map<String, serde_json::Value>;
 
-pub fn run() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+pub fn run(cargo_args: Vec<String>) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     #[derive(serde::Serialize)]
     struct DataFile {
         db: &'static str,
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ pub fn run() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     }
 
     let db_kind = get_db_kind()?;
-    let data = run_prepare_step()?;
+    let data = run_prepare_step(cargo_args)?;
 
     serde_json::to_writer_pretty(
         File::create("sqlx-data.json").context("failed to create/open `sqlx-data.json`")?,
@@ -37,9 +37,9 @@ pub fn run() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     Ok(())
 }
 
-pub fn check() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+pub fn check(cargo_args: Vec<String>) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     let db_kind = get_db_kind()?;
-    let data = run_prepare_step()?;
+    let data = run_prepare_step(cargo_args)?;
 
     let data_file = fs::read("sqlx-data.json").context(
         "failed to open `sqlx-data.json`; you may need to run `cargo sqlx prepare` first",
@@ -70,13 +70,14 @@ pub fn check() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     Ok(())
 }
 
-fn run_prepare_step() -> anyhow::Result<QueryData> {
+fn run_prepare_step(cargo_args: Vec<String>) -> anyhow::Result<QueryData> {
     // path to the Cargo executable
     let cargo = env::var("CARGO")
         .context("`prepare` subcommand may only be invoked as `cargo sqlx prepare``")?;
 
     let check_status = Command::new(&cargo)
         .arg("check")
+        .args(cargo_args)
         // set an always-changing env var that the macros depend on via `env!()`
         .env(
             "__SQLX_RECOMPILE_TRIGGER",