diff --git a/docs/configuration.md b/docs/configuration.md
index b72308fb2557a76ee71ff146b1aa6066c0364b31..7c460f40bf30ce196faa70e5dfae6aecb3aabe9a 100644
--- a/docs/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/configuration.md
@@ -154,6 +154,14 @@ Obviously, you can't set repository or package file location with this method.
   <td>`RENOVATE_ONBOARDING`</td>
   <td>`--onboarding`<td>
 </tr>
+<tr>
+  <td>`renovateFork`</td>
+  <td>Whether to renovate a forked repository or not.</td>
+  <td>boolean</td>
+  <td><pre>false</pre></td>
+  <td>`RENOVATE_RENOVATE_FORK`</td>
+  <td>`--renovate-fork`<td>
+</tr>
 <tr>
   <td>`privateKey`</td>
   <td>Server-side private key</td>
diff --git a/lib/config/definitions.js b/lib/config/definitions.js
index 7a8e18877219dfb8e697733f8b36b90bffcdbaaf..c128f35a029458d71aec2856a2c97682af93bf0d 100644
--- a/lib/config/definitions.js
+++ b/lib/config/definitions.js
@@ -71,6 +71,13 @@ const options = [
     stage: 'repository',
     type: 'boolean',
   },
+  {
+    name: 'renovateFork',
+    description: 'Whether to renovate a forked repository or not.',
+    stage: 'repository',
+    type: 'boolean',
+    default: false,
+  },
   // encryption
   {
     name: 'privateKey',
diff --git a/lib/workers/repository/index.js b/lib/workers/repository/index.js
index a2b003e6562ce63903f83419589de088de330e8e..7000cd3b83622739126f4f1c1e39dcd9094cf065 100644
--- a/lib/workers/repository/index.js
+++ b/lib/workers/repository/index.js
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ async function renovateRepository(repoConfig, token) {
       return null;
     }
     if (config.isFork) {
-      if (config.renovateJsonPresent) {
+      if (config.renovateFork) {
         logger.info('Processing forked repository');
       } else {
         logger.debug('repository is a fork and not manually configured');
diff --git a/test/workers/repository/index.spec.js b/test/workers/repository/index.spec.js
index 3f1e87bae3e2b598955fb4ba5c604616291c7c51..abb83c9b693a03fbe8507cc496590affaf93d0de 100644
--- a/test/workers/repository/index.spec.js
+++ b/test/workers/repository/index.spec.js
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ describe('workers/repository', () => {
     });
     it('does not skip repository if its a configured fork', async () => {
       config.isFork = true;
-      config.renovateJsonPresent = true;
+      config.renovateFork = true;
       manager.detectPackageFiles.mockImplementationOnce(input => ({
         ...input,
         ...{ packageFiles: [] },