diff --git a/cli/command/cli_options.go b/cli/command/cli_options.go
index 535a6d5338..d714947cb9 100644
--- a/cli/command/cli_options.go
+++ b/cli/command/cli_options.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"strconv"
 
 	"github.com/docker/cli/cli/streams"
+	"github.com/docker/docker/client"
 	"github.com/moby/term"
 )
 
@@ -86,3 +87,11 @@ func WithDefaultContextStoreConfig() DockerCliOption {
 		return nil
 	}
 }
+
+// WithAPIClient configures the cli to use the given API client.
+func WithAPIClient(c client.APIClient) DockerCliOption {
+	return func(cli *DockerCli) error {
+		cli.client = c
+		return nil
+	}
+}