diff --git a/homemaker.go b/homemaker.go
index 8d9168c..8e74839 100644
--- a/homemaker.go
+++ b/homemaker.go
@@ -35,9 +35,10 @@ const (
 	flagClobber = 1 << iota
 	flagForce
 	flagVerbose
-	flagNoCmd
-	flagNoLink
+	flagNoCmds
+	flagNoLinks
 	flagNoMacro
+	flagUnlink = flagNoCmds | (1 << iota)
 )
 
 func usage() {
@@ -58,9 +59,10 @@ func main() {
 	force := flag.Bool("force", true, "create parent directories to target")
 	clobber := flag.Bool("clobber", false, "delete files and directories at target")
 	verbose := flag.Bool("verbose", false, "verbose output")
-	nocmd := flag.Bool("nocmd", false, "don't execute commands")
-	nolink := flag.Bool("nolink", false, "don't create links")
-	variant := flag.String("variant", "", "execution variant")
+	nocmds := flag.Bool("nocmds", false, "don't execute commands")
+	nolinks := flag.Bool("nolinks", false, "don't create links")
+	variant := flag.String("variant", "", "execution variant for tasks and macros")
+	unlink := flag.Bool("unlink", false, "remove existing links instead of creating them")
 
 	flag.Usage = usage
 	flag.Parse()
@@ -75,11 +77,14 @@ func main() {
 	if *verbose {
 		flags |= flagVerbose
 	}
-	if *nocmd {
-		flags |= flagNoCmd
+	if *nocmds {
+		flags |= flagNoCmds
 	}
-	if *nolink {
-		flags |= flagNoLink
+	if *nolinks {
+		flags |= flagNoLinks
+	}
+	if *unlink {
+		flags |= flagUnlink
 	}
 
 	if flag.NArg() == 2 {
diff --git a/link.go b/link.go
index 2ac7bd8..b465d02 100644
--- a/link.go
+++ b/link.go
@@ -115,23 +115,32 @@ func processLink(params []string, conf *config) error {
 		dstPathAbs = path.Join(conf.dstDir, dstPath)
 	}
 
-	if _, err := os.Stat(srcPathAbs); os.IsNotExist(err) {
-		return fmt.Errorf("source path %s does not exist in filesystem", srcPathAbs)
-	}
+	if conf.flags&flagUnlink == 0 {
+		if _, err := os.Stat(srcPathAbs); os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			return fmt.Errorf("source path %s does not exist in filesystem", srcPathAbs)
+		}
 
-	if err := try(func() error { return createPath(dstPathAbs, conf.flags, mode) }); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
+		if err := try(func() error { return createPath(dstPathAbs, conf.flags, mode) }); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
 
-	if err := try(func() error { return cleanPath(dstPathAbs, conf.flags) }); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
+		if err := try(func() error { return cleanPath(dstPathAbs, conf.flags) }); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
 
-	if conf.flags&flagVerbose != 0 {
-		log.Printf("linking %s to %s", srcPathAbs, dstPathAbs)
-	}
+		if conf.flags&flagVerbose != 0 {
+			log.Printf("linking %s to %s", srcPathAbs, dstPathAbs)
+		}
 
-	return try(func() error {
-		return os.Symlink(srcPathAbs, dstPathAbs)
-	})
+		return try(func() error {
+			return os.Symlink(srcPathAbs, dstPathAbs)
+		})
+	} else {
+		stat, err := os.Lstat(dstPathAbs)
+		if os.IsNotExist(err) || stat.Mode()&os.ModeSymlink == 0 {
+			return nil
+		}
+
+		return try(func() error { return cleanPath(dstPathAbs, conf.flags) })
+	}
 }
diff --git a/task.go b/task.go
index b920cd6..0a5a776 100644
--- a/task.go
+++ b/task.go
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ func (t *task) process(conf *config) error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	if conf.flags&flagNoCmd == 0 {
+	if conf.flags&flagNoCmds == 0 {
 		for _, currCmd := range t.Cmds {
 			if err := processCmd(currCmd, conf); err != nil {
 				return err
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ func (t *task) process(conf *config) error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	if conf.flags&flagNoLink == 0 {
+	if conf.flags&flagNoLinks == 0 {
 		for _, currLink := range t.Links {
 			if err := processLink(currLink, conf); err != nil {
 				return err