diff --git a/letsencrypt/cli.py b/letsencrypt/cli.py
index 348818368..5be3c1696 100644
--- a/letsencrypt/cli.py
+++ b/letsencrypt/cli.py
@@ -696,6 +696,14 @@ class HelpfulArgumentParser(object):
         parsed_args = self.parser.parse_args(self.args)
         parsed_args.func = self.VERBS[self.verb]
 
+        # Do any post-parsing homework here
+
+        # argparse seemingly isn't flexible enough to give us this behaviour easily...
+        if parsed_args.staging:
+            if parsed_args.server not in (flag_default("server"), constants.STAGING_URI):
+                raise errors.Error("--server value conflicts with --staging")
+            parsed_args.server = constants.STAGING_URI
+
         return parsed_args
 
 
@@ -1037,6 +1045,10 @@ def _paths_parser(helpful):
         help="Logs directory.")
     add("paths", "--server", default=flag_default("server"),
         help=config_help("server"))
+    # overwrites server, handled in HelpfulArgumentParser.parse_args()
+    add("testing", "--test-cert", "--staging", action='store_true', dest='staging',
+        help='Use the staging server to obtain test (invalid) certs; equivalent'
+             ' to --server ' + constants.STAGING_URI)
 
 
 def _plugins_parsing(helpful, plugins):
diff --git a/letsencrypt/constants.py b/letsencrypt/constants.py
index 40155abd7..a1dccd1ea 100644
--- a/letsencrypt/constants.py
+++ b/letsencrypt/constants.py
@@ -30,8 +30,9 @@ CLI_DEFAULTS = dict(
     auth_chain_path="./chain.pem",
     strict_permissions=False,
 )
-"""Defaults for CLI flags and `.IConfig` attributes."""
+STAGING_URI = "https://acme-staging.api.letsencrypt.org/directory"
 
+"""Defaults for CLI flags and `.IConfig` attributes."""
 
 RENEWER_DEFAULTS = dict(
     renewer_enabled="yes",
diff --git a/letsencrypt/tests/cli_test.py b/letsencrypt/tests/cli_test.py
index 462d37a87..e7ae5de23 100644
--- a/letsencrypt/tests/cli_test.py
+++ b/letsencrypt/tests/cli_test.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ from acme import jose
 from letsencrypt import account
 from letsencrypt import cli
 from letsencrypt import configuration
+from letsencrypt import constants
 from letsencrypt import crypto_util
 from letsencrypt import errors
 from letsencrypt import le_util
@@ -343,6 +344,19 @@ class CLITest(unittest.TestCase):  # pylint: disable=too-many-public-methods
         namespace = cli.prepare_and_parse_args(plugins, long_args)
         self.assertEqual(namespace.domains, ['example.com', 'another.net'])
 
+    def test_parse_server(self):
+        plugins = disco.PluginsRegistry.find_all()
+        short_args = ['--server', 'example.com']
+        namespace = cli.prepare_and_parse_args(plugins, short_args)
+        self.assertEqual(namespace.server, 'example.com')
+
+        short_args = ['--staging']
+        namespace = cli.prepare_and_parse_args(plugins, short_args)
+        self.assertEqual(namespace.server, constants.STAGING_URI)
+
+        short_args = ['--staging', '--server', 'example.com']
+        self.assertRaises(errors.Error, cli.prepare_and_parse_args, plugins, short_args)
+
     def test_parse_webroot(self):
         plugins = disco.PluginsRegistry.find_all()
         webroot_args = ['--webroot', '-w', '/var/www/example',