diff --git a/makeBuild.py b/makeBuild.py
index 9abe8bc9ee..60a5b7b25d 100755
--- a/makeBuild.py
+++ b/makeBuild.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 # uses a refactored Aura script which is an opensource port of ccutil
 
+import argparse
 import sys
 import os
 import logging
@@ -19,6 +20,15 @@ from aura.transformers.tf_asciidoc import AsciiDocPublicanTransformer, XML_NS, L
 
 #print(branch)
 
+def setup_parser():
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
+        formatter_class=argparse.ArgumentDefaultsHelpFormatter
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--include-api-book", help="Include the rest_api book in the build", action="store_true", default=False,
+    )
+    return parser
+
 # function to convert XML ids to HTML 4 compatible ids from ccutil
 def _fix_ids_for_html4(tree):
     """
@@ -122,6 +132,10 @@ all_validated = True
 # Initialize logging
 cli.init_logging(False, False)
 
+
+parser = setup_parser()
+args = parser.parse_args()
+
 for distro in os.listdir("drupal-build"):
 
     print("---------------------------------------")
@@ -136,7 +150,9 @@ for distro in os.listdir("drupal-build"):
             continue
         # rest api book is a pain and doesn't convert well
         if book == "rest_api":
-            continue
+            # Exclude the REST API book unless we explicitly require it
+            if not args.include_api_book:
+                continue
 
         if os.path.exists(os.path.join("drupal-build", distro, book,"hugeBook.flag")):
             for secondary_book in os.listdir(os.path.join("drupal-build", distro, book)):
diff --git a/scripts/prow-smoke-test.sh b/scripts/prow-smoke-test.sh
index 3bc701eaf0..37e74e66cb 100755
--- a/scripts/prow-smoke-test.sh
+++ b/scripts/prow-smoke-test.sh
@@ -10,13 +10,16 @@
 #%    Validates openshift-docs AsciiDoc source files using the same tools that run in the Prow CI
 #%
 #%OPTIONS ⚙️
-#%    -v, --validate                                    Validate the AsciiDoc source
+#%    -v, --validate $DISTRO                            Validate the AsciiDoc source. Use --validate to run with default options
+#%    -a, --validate-incl-api-book                      Validate the AsciiDoc source and include the REST API books
 #%    -l, --lint-topicmaps                              Lint topic-map YAML
 #%    -p, --preview $DISTRO "$PRODUCT_NAME" $VERSION    Use --preview to run with default options
 #%    -h, --help                                        Print this help
 #%
 #%EXAMPLES 🤔
 #%    ./scripts/prow-smoke-test.sh --validate
+#%    ./scripts/prow-smoke-test.sh --validate openshift-rosa
+#%    ./scripts/prow-smoke-test.sh --validate-incl-api-book
 #%    ./scripts/prow-smoke-test.sh --lint-topicmaps
 #%    ./scripts/prow-smoke-test.sh --preview
 #%    ./scripts/prow-smoke-test.sh --preview openshift-rosa
@@ -87,6 +90,13 @@ elif [[ "$TEST" == "--validate" || "$TEST" == "-v" ]]; then
     echo "🚧 Validating the docs..."
   $CONTAINER_ENGINE run --rm -it -v "$(pwd)":${CONTAINER_WORKDIR}:Z $CONTAINER_IMAGE sh -c 'scripts/check-asciidoctor-build.sh && python3 build_for_portal.py --distro '${DISTRO}' --product "'"${PRODUCT_NAME}"'" --version '${VERSION}' --no-upstream-fetch && python3 makeBuild.py'
 
+elif [[ "$TEST" == "--validate-incl-api-book" || "$TEST" == "-a" ]]; then
+    # Clean output folder
+    rm -rf ./drupal-build
+    echo ""
+    echo "🚧 Validating the docs..."
+    $CONTAINER_ENGINE run --rm -it -v "$(pwd)":${CONTAINER_WORKDIR}${SELINUX_LABEL} $CONTAINER_IMAGE sh -c 'scripts/check-asciidoctor-build.sh && python3 build_for_portal.py --distro '${DISTRO}' --product "'"${PRODUCT_NAME}"'" --version '${VERSION}' --no-upstream-fetch && python3 makeBuild.py --include-api-book'
+
 elif [[ "$TEST" == "--lint-topicmaps" || "$TEST" == "-l" ]]; then
     echo ""
     echo "🚧 Linting the topicmap YAML..."