diff --git a/src/ifcopenshell-python/ifcopenshell/validate.py b/src/ifcopenshell-python/ifcopenshell/validate.py
index 13f148d520..e1270afb57 100644
--- a/src/ifcopenshell-python/ifcopenshell/validate.py
+++ b/src/ifcopenshell-python/ifcopenshell/validate.py
@@ -793,6 +793,12 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
     parser.add_argument("files", nargs="+", help="The IFC file to validate.")
     parser.add_argument("--rules", action="store_true", help="Run express rules.")
     parser.add_argument("--json", action="store_true", help="Output in JSON format.")
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--recursion-limit",
+        type=int,
+        default=-1,
+        help="Override sys.getrecursionlimit to process express rules on deeply nested structures (e.g 10000)",
+    )
     parser.add_argument(
         "--fields",
         action="store_true",
@@ -804,6 +810,9 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
     filenames: list[str] = args.files
     some_file_is_invalid = False
 
+    if args.recursion_limit > 0:
+        sys.setrecursionlimit(args.recursion_limit)
+
     for fn in filenames:
         handler = None
         if args.json: