diff --git a/src/node/cli.ts b/src/node/cli.ts
index 60e9fb78bde7..b7b71f471ddb 100644
--- a/src/node/cli.ts
+++ b/src/node/cli.ts
@@ -436,7 +436,11 @@ export const parse = (
 
       const option = options[key]
       if (option.type === "boolean") {
-        ;(args[key] as boolean) = true
+        // Booleans set to false (for example `--flag=false`, which is also how
+        // false values from the config file are passed in) are ignored.
+        if (value !== "false") {
+          ;(args[key] as boolean) = true
+        }
         continue
       }
 
diff --git a/test/unit/node/cli.test.ts b/test/unit/node/cli.test.ts
index c4ed29ed33de..628dcd98fabf 100644
--- a/test/unit/node/cli.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/node/cli.test.ts
@@ -578,6 +578,19 @@ describe("parser", () => {
   it("should ignore optional strings set to false", async () => {
     expect(parse(["--cert=false"])).toEqual({})
   })
+  it("should ignore booleans set to false", async () => {
+    expect(parse(["--disable-telemetry=false"])).toEqual({})
+  })
+  it("should parse booleans set to false in the config file", () => {
+    const configContents = `
+      disable-telemetry: false
+      disable-update-check: true
+    `
+    expect(parseConfigFile(configContents, "/fake-config-path")).toEqual({
+      config: "/fake-config-path",
+      "disable-update-check": true,
+    })
+  })
   it("should use last flag", async () => {
     expect(parse(["--port", "8081", "--port", "8082"])).toEqual({
       port: 8082,