diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/api/http/server/RebalanceApiServlet.java b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/api/http/server/RebalanceApiServlet.java
index e7afd44..43c25f2 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/api/http/server/RebalanceApiServlet.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/api/http/server/RebalanceApiServlet.java
@@ -107,7 +107,11 @@
             String dataverseName = request.getParameter("dataverseName");
             String datasetName = request.getParameter("datasetName");
             String nodes = request.getParameter("nodes");
-
+            boolean forceRebalance = true;
+            String force = request.getParameter("force");
+            if (force != null) {
+                forceRebalance = Boolean.parseBoolean(force);
+            }
             // Parses and check target nodes.
             if (nodes == null) {
                 sendResponse(response, HttpResponseStatus.BAD_REQUEST, "nodes are not given");
@@ -133,7 +137,8 @@
                 return;
             }
             // Schedules a rebalance task and wait for its completion.
-            CountDownLatch terminated = scheduleRebalance(dataverseName, datasetName, targetNodes, response);
+            CountDownLatch terminated =
+                    scheduleRebalance(dataverseName, datasetName, targetNodes, response, forceRebalance);
             terminated.await();
         } catch (InterruptedException e) {
             Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
@@ -156,10 +161,10 @@
 
     // Schedules a rebalance task.
     private synchronized CountDownLatch scheduleRebalance(String dataverseName, String datasetName,
-            String[] targetNodes, IServletResponse response) {
+            String[] targetNodes, IServletResponse response, boolean force) {
         CountDownLatch terminated = new CountDownLatch(1);
-        Future<Void> task =
-                executor.submit(() -> doRebalance(dataverseName, datasetName, targetNodes, response, terminated));
+        Future<Void> task = executor
+                .submit(() -> doRebalance(dataverseName, datasetName, targetNodes, response, terminated, force));
         rebalanceTasks.add(task);
         rebalanceFutureTerminated.add(terminated);
         return terminated;
@@ -167,7 +172,7 @@
 
     // Performs the actual rebalance.
     private Void doRebalance(String dataverseName, String datasetName, String[] targetNodes, IServletResponse response,
-            CountDownLatch terminated) {
+            CountDownLatch terminated, boolean force) {
         try {
             // Sets the content type.
             HttpUtil.setContentType(response, HttpUtil.ContentType.APPLICATION_JSON, StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
@@ -179,11 +184,11 @@
                 for (Dataset dataset : datasets) {
                     // By the time rebalanceDataset(...) is called, the dataset could have been dropped.
                     // If that's the case, rebalanceDataset(...) would be a no-op.
-                    rebalanceDataset(dataset.getDataverseName(), dataset.getDatasetName(), targetNodes);
+                    rebalanceDataset(dataset.getDataverseName(), dataset.getDatasetName(), targetNodes, force);
                 }
             } else {
                 // Rebalances a given dataset from its current locations to the target nodes.
-                rebalanceDataset(dataverseName, datasetName, targetNodes);
+                rebalanceDataset(dataverseName, datasetName, targetNodes, force);
             }
 
             // Sends response.
@@ -243,7 +248,8 @@
     }
 
     // Rebalances a given dataset.
-    private void rebalanceDataset(String dataverseName, String datasetName, String[] targetNodes) throws Exception {
+    private void rebalanceDataset(String dataverseName, String datasetName, String[] targetNodes, boolean force)
+            throws Exception {
         IHyracksClientConnection hcc = (IHyracksClientConnection) ctx.get(HYRACKS_CONNECTION_ATTR);
         MetadataProvider metadataProvider = new MetadataProvider(appCtx, null);
         try {
@@ -255,7 +261,7 @@
                 lockManager.acquireDatasetExclusiveModificationLock(metadataProvider.getLocks(),
                         dataverseName + '.' + datasetName);
                 RebalanceUtil.rebalance(dataverseName, datasetName, new LinkedHashSet<>(Arrays.asList(targetNodes)),
-                        metadataProvider, hcc, NoOpDatasetRebalanceCallback.INSTANCE);
+                        metadataProvider, hcc, NoOpDatasetRebalanceCallback.INSTANCE, force);
             } finally {
                 activeNotificationHandler.resume(metadataProvider);
             }
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/utils/RebalanceUtil.java b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/utils/RebalanceUtil.java
index dff0b4a..25076c2 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/utils/RebalanceUtil.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/utils/RebalanceUtil.java
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@
      */
     public static void rebalance(String dataverseName, String datasetName, Set<String> targetNcNames,
             MetadataProvider metadataProvider, IHyracksClientConnection hcc,
-            IDatasetRebalanceCallback datasetRebalanceCallback) throws Exception {
+            IDatasetRebalanceCallback datasetRebalanceCallback, boolean forceRebalance) throws Exception {
         Dataset sourceDataset;
         Dataset targetDataset;
         // Executes the first Metadata transaction.
@@ -112,8 +112,7 @@
 
             Set<String> sourceNodes = new HashSet<>(metadataProvider.findNodes(sourceDataset.getNodeGroupName()));
 
-            // The the source nodes are identical to the target nodes.
-            if (sourceNodes.equals(targetNcNames)) {
+            if (!forceRebalance && sourceNodes.equals(targetNcNames)) {
                 return;
             }
 
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/java/org/apache/asterix/common/TestDataUtil.java b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/java/org/apache/asterix/common/TestDataUtil.java
index d453824..f15b88f 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/java/org/apache/asterix/common/TestDataUtil.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/java/org/apache/asterix/common/TestDataUtil.java
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@
                 lockManager.acquireDatasetExclusiveModificationLock(metadataProvider.getLocks(),
                         dataverseName + '.' + datasetName);
                 RebalanceUtil.rebalance(dataverseName, datasetName, new LinkedHashSet<>(Arrays.asList(targetNodes)),
-                        metadataProvider, ccAppCtx.getHcc(), NoOpDatasetRebalanceCallback.INSTANCE);
+                        metadataProvider, ccAppCtx.getHcc(), NoOpDatasetRebalanceCallback.INSTANCE, false);
             } finally {
                 activeNotificationHandler.resume(metadataProvider);
             }
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/rebalance/identical_location/identical_location.3.post.http b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/rebalance/identical_location/identical_location.3.post.http
index d21f3fc..68d4a0f 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/rebalance/identical_location/identical_location.3.post.http
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/rebalance/identical_location/identical_location.3.post.http
@@ -17,4 +17,4 @@
  * under the License.
  */
 
-/admin/rebalance?dataverseName=tpch&datasetName=LineItem&nodes=%22asterix_nc2%2Casterix_nc1%22
+/admin/rebalance?dataverseName=tpch&datasetName=LineItem&nodes=%22asterix_nc2%2Casterix_nc1%22&force=false