diff --git a/pre_commit_hooks/check_yaml.py b/pre_commit_hooks/check_yaml.py
index 250794e..fa75512 100644
--- a/pre_commit_hooks/check_yaml.py
+++ b/pre_commit_hooks/check_yaml.py
@@ -52,11 +52,29 @@ def main(argv: Sequence[str] | None = None) -> int:
             'Implies --allow-multiple-documents'
         ),
     )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        '--ignore-ansible-vault', action='store_true',
+        help=(
+            'Ignore keys that look like ansible vault encrypted values.  '
+            'This works by removing the "!" from the "!vault" value prefix.'
+        ),
+    )
     parser.add_argument('filenames', nargs='*', help='Filenames to check.')
     args = parser.parse_args(argv)
 
     load_fn = LOAD_FNS[Key(multi=args.multi, unsafe=args.unsafe)]
 
+    if args.ignore_ansible_vault:
+        def ignore_ansible_vault(loader: ruamel.yaml.Loader,
+                                 node: ruamel.yaml.Node) -> Any:
+            if node.value.startswith('!vault'):
+                node.value = node.value[1:]
+            return loader.construct_yaml_str(node)
+
+        ruamel.yaml.add_constructor(u'!vault',
+                                    ignore_ansible_vault,
+                                    constructor=ruamel.yaml.SafeConstructor)
+
     retval = 0
     for filename in args.filenames:
         try:
diff --git a/tests/check_yaml_test.py b/tests/check_yaml_test.py
index 54eb16e..21cd0da 100644
--- a/tests/check_yaml_test.py
+++ b/tests/check_yaml_test.py
@@ -51,3 +51,22 @@ def test_main_unsafe_still_fails_on_syntax_errors(tmpdir):
     f = tmpdir.join('test.yaml')
     f.write('[')
     assert main(('--unsafe', str(f)))
+
+
+def test_main_ignore_ansible_vault(tmpdir):
+    f = tmpdir.join('test.yaml')
+    f.write(
+        'some_foo: !vault |\n'
+        '    $ANSIBLE_VAULT;1.1;AES256\n'
+        '    deadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeef\n',
+    )
+    # should fail "safe" check
+    assert main((str(f),))
+    # should pass when we allow unsafe documents
+    assert not main(('--ignore-ansible-vault', str(f)))
+
+
+def test_main_ignore_ansible_vault_still_fails_on_syntax_errors(tmpdir):
+    f = tmpdir.join('test.yaml')
+    f.write('[')
+    assert main(('--ignore-ansible-vault', str(f)))