diff --git a/src/Config.php b/src/Config.php
index f77eaef473..eefae4730d 100644
--- a/src/Config.php
+++ b/src/Config.php
@@ -744,6 +744,12 @@ public function processLongArgument($arg, $pos)
             $this->cache = false;
             self::$overriddenDefaults['cache'] = true;
             break;
+        case 'delete-cache':
+            ob_start();
+            Util\Cache::delete($this->cacheFile);
+            $output = ob_get_contents();
+            ob_end_clean();
+            throw new DeepExitException($output, 0);
         case 'ignore-annotations':
             if (isset(self::$overriddenDefaults['annotations']) === true) {
                 break;
@@ -1344,7 +1350,7 @@ public function printShortUsage($return=false)
     public function printPHPCSUsage()
     {
         echo 'Usage: phpcs [-nwlsaepqvi] [-d key[=value]] [--colors] [--no-colors]'.PHP_EOL;
-        echo '  [--cache[=<cacheFile>]] [--no-cache] [--tab-width=<tabWidth>]'.PHP_EOL;
+        echo '  [--cache[=<cacheFile>]] [--delete-cache] [--no-cache] [--tab-width=<tabWidth>]'.PHP_EOL;
         echo '  [--report=<report>] [--report-file=<reportFile>] [--report-<report>=<reportFile>]'.PHP_EOL;
         echo '  [--report-width=<reportWidth>] [--basepath=<basepath>] [--bootstrap=<bootstrap>]'.PHP_EOL;
         echo '  [--severity=<severity>] [--error-severity=<severity>] [--warning-severity=<severity>]'.PHP_EOL;
@@ -1376,10 +1382,11 @@ public function printPHPCSUsage()
         echo ' --colors              Use colors in output'.PHP_EOL;
         echo ' --no-colors           Do not use colors in output (this is the default)'.PHP_EOL;
         echo ' --cache               Cache results between runs'.PHP_EOL;
+        echo ' --delete-cache        Delete existing cached data'.PHP_EOL;
         echo ' --no-cache            Do not cache results between runs (this is the default)'.PHP_EOL;
         echo ' --ignore-annotations  Ignore all phpcs: annotations in code comments'.PHP_EOL;
         echo PHP_EOL;
-        echo ' <cacheFile>    Use a specific file for caching (uses a temporary file by default)'.PHP_EOL;
+        echo ' <cacheFile>    Use (or delete) a specific file for caching (uses a temporary file by default)'.PHP_EOL;
         echo ' <basepath>     A path to strip from the front of file paths inside reports'.PHP_EOL;
         echo ' <bootstrap>    A comma separated list of files to run before processing begins'.PHP_EOL;
         echo ' <encoding>     The encoding of the files being checked (default is utf-8)'.PHP_EOL;
diff --git a/src/Util/Cache.php b/src/Util/Cache.php
index b7819c91eb..4e50ec5833 100644
--- a/src/Util/Cache.php
+++ b/src/Util/Cache.php
@@ -218,10 +218,7 @@ function ($file, $key, $iterator) {
             $numFiles = count($config->files);
 
             $cacheFile = null;
-            $cacheDir  = getenv('XDG_CACHE_HOME');
-            if ($cacheDir === false || is_dir($cacheDir) === false) {
-                $cacheDir = sys_get_temp_dir();
-            }
+            $cacheDir  = self::getCacheDir();
 
             foreach ($paths as $file => $count) {
                 if ($count !== $numFiles) {
@@ -345,4 +342,64 @@ public static function getSize()
     }//end getSize()
 
 
+    /**
+     * Returns the dir in which cache files should be stored/found
+     *
+     * @return string
+     */
+    private static function getCacheDir()
+    {
+        $cacheDir = getenv('XDG_CACHE_HOME');
+        if ($cacheDir === false || is_dir($cacheDir) === false) {
+            $cacheDir = sys_get_temp_dir();
+        }
+
+        return $cacheDir;
+
+    }//end getCacheDir()
+
+
+    /**
+     * Deletes the cache file
+     *
+     * @param string $cacheFile A cache file provided by the user to be deleted
+     *
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public static function delete(?string $cacheFile=null)
+    {
+        if ($cacheFile !== null) {
+            if (unlink($cacheFile) === true) {
+                echo $cacheFile.' deleted successfully'.PHP_EOL;
+            } else {
+                $error = error_get_last();
+                echo "ERROR : Could not delete ".$cacheFile.': '.$error['message'].PHP_EOL;
+            }
+
+            return;
+        }
+
+        $cacheDir = self::getCacheDir();
+        $files    = glob($cacheDir.DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR.'phpcs.*.cache');
+
+        if (count($files) === 0) {
+            echo 'No cache to delete'.PHP_EOL;
+            return;
+        }
+
+        $deletedFiles = 0;
+        foreach ($files as $file) {
+            if (unlink($file) === true) {
+                $deletedFiles++;
+            } else {
+                $error = error_get_last();
+                echo "ERROR : Could not delete ".$file.': '.$error['message'].PHP_EOL;
+            }
+        }
+
+        echo $deletedFiles.' cache files deleted successfully'.PHP_EOL;
+
+    }//end delete()
+
+
 }//end class