diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/lib/index.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/lib/index.ts
index cabb094e65c00..b5f7cd4548893 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/lib/index.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/lib/index.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ export * from './integ-test';
 export * from './memoize';
 export * from './resource-pool';
 export * from './with-cli-lib';
+export * from './with-cli-lib-no-stacks';
 export * from './with-sam';
 export * from './shell';
 export * from './with-aws';
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/lib/with-cli-no-stacks.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/lib/with-cli-lib-no-stacks.ts
similarity index 96%
rename from packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/lib/with-cli-no-stacks.ts
rename to packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/lib/with-cli-lib-no-stacks.ts
index 7d95eb9f1d41d..abf0096cad60d 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/lib/with-cli-no-stacks.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/lib/with-cli-lib-no-stacks.ts
@@ -105,16 +105,18 @@ export class CliLibNoStacksIntegrationTestFixture extends TestFixture {
    */
   public async cdk(args: string[], options: CdkCliOptions = {}) {
     const action = args[0];
-    const stackName = args[1];
+    const ignoreNoStacks = args[1];
 
-    const cliOpts: Record<string, any> = {
-      stacks: stackName ? [stackName] : undefined,
-    };
+    const cliOpts: Record<string, any> = {};
 
     if (action === 'deploy') {
       cliOpts.requireApproval = options.neverRequireApproval ? 'never' : 'broadening';
     }
 
+    if (ignoreNoStacks == '--ignore-no-stacks') {
+      cliOpts.ignoreNoStacks = true;
+    }
+
     return this.shell(['node', '--input-type=module', `<<__EOS__
       import { AwsCdkCli } from '@aws-cdk/cli-lib-alpha';
       const cli = AwsCdkCli.fromCdkAppDirectory();
@@ -125,7 +127,6 @@ __EOS__`], {
       modEnv: {
         AWS_REGION: this.aws.region,
         AWS_DEFAULT_REGION: this.aws.region,
-        STACK_NAME_PREFIX: this.stackNamePrefix,
         PACKAGE_LAYOUT_VERSION: this.packages.majorVersion(),
         ...options.modEnv,
       },
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/resources/cdk-apps/app/app.js b/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/resources/cdk-apps/app/app.js
index 322b828baf3f1..eeb1ad83673e2 100755
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/resources/cdk-apps/app/app.js
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/resources/cdk-apps/app/app.js
@@ -403,8 +403,6 @@ class BuiltinLambdaStack extends cdk.Stack {
   }
 }
 
-class StackWithNoResources extends cdk.Stack {}
-
 const app = new cdk.App({
   context: {
     '@aws-cdk/core:assetHashSalt': process.env.CODEBUILD_BUILD_ID, // Force all assets to be unique, but consistent in one build
@@ -494,8 +492,7 @@ switch (stackSet) {
     stage.synth({ validateOnSynthesis: true });
     break;
 
-  case 'stage-with-no-resources':
-    new StackWithNoResources(app, `${stackPrefix}-stage-with-no-resources`);
+  case 'stage-with-no-stacks':
     break;
 
   default:
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/resources/cdk-apps/no-stack-app/app.js b/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/resources/cdk-apps/no-stack-app/app.js
index ff84c957c7397..0ab5ae37bbf1a 100755
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/resources/cdk-apps/no-stack-app/app.js
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/resources/cdk-apps/no-stack-app/app.js
@@ -1,11 +1,5 @@
 const cdk = require('aws-cdk-lib/core');
 
-const stackPrefix = process.env.STACK_NAME_PREFIX;
-if (!stackPrefix) {
-  throw new Error(`the STACK_NAME_PREFIX environment variable is required`);
-}
-
 const app = new cdk.App();
-new NoStackApp(app, `${stackPrefix}-no-stack-1`);
 
 app.synth();
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/tests/cli-integ-tests/cli-lib.integtest.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/tests/cli-integ-tests/cli-lib.integtest.ts
index c6d93177415db..2d0da77b48f63 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/tests/cli-integ-tests/cli-lib.integtest.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/tests/cli-integ-tests/cli-lib.integtest.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { integTest, withCliLibFixture, withCliLibNoStacksFixture } from '../../lib';
+import { integTest, withCliLibFixture } from '../../lib';
 
 jest.setTimeout(2 * 60 * 60_000); // Includes the time to acquire locks, worst-case single-threaded runtime
 
@@ -47,28 +47,6 @@ integTest('cli-lib deploy', withCliLibFixture(async (fixture) => {
   }
 }));
 
-integTest('cli-lib deploy no stack', withCliLibNoStacksFixture(async (fixture) => {
-  const stackName = fixture.fullStackName('no-stack-1');
-
-  try {
-    // deploy the stack
-    await fixture.cdk(['deploy', stackName], {
-      options: ['--ignore-no-stacks'],
-    });
-
-    // verify the number of resources in the stack
-    const expectedStack = await fixture.aws.cloudFormation('describeStackResources', {
-      StackName: stackName,
-    });
-    expect(expectedStack.StackResources?.length).toEqual(0);
-  } finally {
-    // delete the stack
-    await fixture.cdk(['destroy', stackName], {
-      captureStderr: false,
-    });
-  }
-}));
-
 integTest('security related changes without a CLI are expected to fail when approval is required', withCliLibFixture(async (fixture) => {
   const stdErr = await fixture.cdk(['deploy', fixture.fullStackName('simple-1')], {
     onlyStderr: true,
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/tests/cli-integ-tests/cli.integtest.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/tests/cli-integ-tests/cli.integtest.ts
index 1c00d9c9a7d19..ad6a5f6ed9ad2 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/tests/cli-integ-tests/cli.integtest.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/tests/cli-integ-tests/cli.integtest.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { promises as fs, existsSync } from 'fs';
 import * as os from 'os';
 import * as path from 'path';
-import { integTest, cloneDirectory, shell, withDefaultFixture, retry, sleep, randomInteger, withSamIntegrationFixture, RESOURCES_DIR, withCDKMigrateFixture } from '../../lib';
+import { integTest, cloneDirectory, shell, withDefaultFixture, retry, sleep, randomInteger, withSamIntegrationFixture, RESOURCES_DIR, withCDKMigrateFixture, withCliLibNoStacksFixture } from '../../lib';
 
 jest.setTimeout(2 * 60 * 60_000); // Includes the time to acquire locks, worst-case single-threaded runtime
 
@@ -780,17 +780,22 @@ integTest('deploy stack without resource', withDefaultFixture(async (fixture) =>
     .rejects.toThrow('conditional-resource does not exist');
 }));
 
-integTest('deploy --ignore-no-stacks', withDefaultFixture(async (fixture) => {
-  const stackArn = await fixture.cdkDeploy('stage-with-no-resources', {
+integTest('deploy no stacks with --ignore-no-stacks', withDefaultFixture(async (fixture) => {
+  // empty array for stack names
+  await fixture.cdkDeploy([], {
     options: ['--ignore-no-stacks'],
     modEnv: {
-      INTEG_STACK_SET: 'stage-with-no-resources',
+      INTEG_STACK_SET: 'stage-with-no-stacks',
     },
   });
+}));
 
-  // verify that we only deployed both stacks (there are 2 ARNs in the output)
-  /* eslint-disable no-console */
-  console.log(stackArn);
+integTest('deploy no stacks error', withDefaultFixture(async (fixture) => {
+  await expect(fixture.cdkDeploy([], {
+    modEnv: {
+      INTEG_STACK_SET: 'stage-with-no-stacks',
+    },
+  })).rejects.toThrow('exited with error');
 }));
 
 integTest('IAM diff', withDefaultFixture(async (fixture) => {
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk-cli-wrapper/lib/cdk-wrapper.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk-cli-wrapper/lib/cdk-wrapper.ts
index 9fe40b0b1314f..f8364c4a3f419 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk-cli-wrapper/lib/cdk-wrapper.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk-cli-wrapper/lib/cdk-wrapper.ts
@@ -174,6 +174,7 @@ export class CdkCliWrapper implements ICdk {
       ...renderBooleanArg('previous-parameters', options.usePreviousParameters),
       ...renderBooleanArg('rollback', options.rollback),
       ...renderBooleanArg('staging', options.staging),
+      ...renderBooleanArg('ignore-no-stacks', options.ignoreNoStacks),
       ...options.reuseAssets ? renderArrayArg('--reuse-assets', options.reuseAssets) : [],
       ...options.notificationArns ? renderArrayArg('--notification-arns', options.notificationArns) : [],
       ...options.parameters ? renderMapArrayArg('--parameters', options.parameters) : [],
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk-cli-wrapper/lib/commands/deploy.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk-cli-wrapper/lib/commands/deploy.ts
index 59ffedefe9945..eb92f5ca0e37e 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk-cli-wrapper/lib/commands/deploy.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk-cli-wrapper/lib/commands/deploy.ts
@@ -141,6 +141,13 @@ export interface DeployOptions extends DefaultCdkOptions {
    * @default 1
    */
   readonly concurrency?: number;
+
+  /**
+   * Whether to deploy if the app contains no stacks.
+   *
+   * @default false
+   */
+  readonly ignoreNoStacks?: boolean;
 }
 export type DeploymentMethod = 'direct' | 'change-set';
 
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk-cli-wrapper/test/cdk-wrapper.test.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk-cli-wrapper/test/cdk-wrapper.test.ts
index 266a7b9c81190..d370d5fd295ce 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk-cli-wrapper/test/cdk-wrapper.test.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/cdk-cli-wrapper/test/cdk-wrapper.test.ts
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ test('deploy with all arguments', () => {
     versionReporting: true,
     usePreviousParameters: true,
     progress: StackActivityProgress.BAR,
+    ignoreNoStacks: true,
   });
 
   // THEN
@@ -129,6 +130,7 @@ test('deploy with all arguments', () => {
       '--previous-parameters',
       '--progress', 'bar',
       '--app',
+      '--ignore-no-stacks',
       'node bin/my-app.js',
       'test-stack1',
     ]),
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/cli-lib-alpha/THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES b/packages/@aws-cdk/cli-lib-alpha/THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES
index 9927af86bd644..c430595bb0514 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/cli-lib-alpha/THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/cli-lib-alpha/THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ The @aws-cdk/cli-lib-alpha package includes the following third-party software/l
 
 ----------------
 
-** @jsii/check-node@1.92.0 - https://www.npmjs.com/package/@jsii/check-node/v/1.92.0 | Apache-2.0
+** @jsii/check-node@1.93.0 - https://www.npmjs.com/package/@jsii/check-node/v/1.93.0 | Apache-2.0
 jsii
 Copyright 2018 Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
 
@@ -471,7 +471,7 @@ THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH RE
 
 ----------------
 
-** aws-sdk@2.1498.0 - https://www.npmjs.com/package/aws-sdk/v/2.1498.0 | Apache-2.0
+** aws-sdk@2.1517.0 - https://www.npmjs.com/package/aws-sdk/v/2.1517.0 | Apache-2.0
 AWS SDK for JavaScript
 Copyright 2012-2017 Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
 
@@ -668,7 +668,7 @@ THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLI
 
 ----------------
 
-** cdk-from-cfn@0.84.0 - https://www.npmjs.com/package/cdk-from-cfn/v/0.84.0 | MIT OR Apache-2.0
+** cdk-from-cfn@0.91.0 - https://www.npmjs.com/package/cdk-from-cfn/v/0.91.0 | MIT OR Apache-2.0
 
 ----------------
 
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/deploy-stack.ts b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/deploy-stack.ts
index c4dcf03c5b1ef..122e51c7853c0 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/deploy-stack.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/deploy-stack.ts
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ export interface DeployStackOptions {
    * The collection of extra parameters
    * (in addition to those used for assets)
    * to pass to the deployed template.
-   * Note that parameters with `undefined` or empty values will be ignored,
+   * Note that parameters with `undefined` or empty values will be d,
    * and not passed to the template.
    *
    * @default - no additional parameters will be passed to the template
@@ -205,13 +205,6 @@ export interface DeployStackOptions {
    * @default true To remain backward compatible.
    */
   readonly assetParallelism?: boolean;
-
-  /**
-   * Whether to deploy if the app contains no stacks.
-   *
-   * @default false
-   */
-  ignoreNoStacks?: boolean;
 }
 
 export type DeploymentMethod =