diff --git a/go/cmd/dolt/cli/flags.go b/go/cmd/dolt/cli/flags.go
index d1bb314ccfc..f1132f9fa7b 100644
--- a/go/cmd/dolt/cli/flags.go
+++ b/go/cmd/dolt/cli/flags.go
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ const (
 	SkipEmptyFlag        = "skip-empty"
 	SoftResetParam       = "soft"
 	SquashParam          = "squash"
+	StagedFlag           = "staged"
 	StatFlag             = "stat"
 	SystemFlag           = "system"
 	TablesFlag           = "tables"
diff --git a/go/cmd/dolt/commands/diff.go b/go/cmd/dolt/commands/diff.go
index 706902a2bb3..220930f37e5 100644
--- a/go/cmd/dolt/commands/diff.go
+++ b/go/cmd/dolt/commands/diff.go
@@ -171,7 +171,8 @@ func (cmd DiffCmd) ArgParser() *argparser.ArgParser {
 	ap.SupportsString(FormatFlag, "r", "result output format", "How to format diff output. Valid values are tabular, sql, json. Defaults to tabular.")
 	ap.SupportsString(whereParam, "", "column", "filters columns based on values in the diff.  See {{.EmphasisLeft}}dolt diff --help{{.EmphasisRight}} for details.")
 	ap.SupportsInt(limitParam, "", "record_count", "limits to the first N diffs.")
-	ap.SupportsFlag(cli.CachedFlag, "c", "Show only the staged data changes.")
+	ap.SupportsFlag(cli.StagedFlag, "", "Show only the staged data changes.")
+	ap.SupportsFlag(cli.CachedFlag, "c", "Synonym for --staged")
 	ap.SupportsFlag(SkinnyFlag, "sk", "Shows only primary key columns and any columns with data changes.")
 	ap.SupportsFlag(MergeBase, "", "Uses merge base of the first commit and second commit (or HEAD if not supplied) as the first commit")
 	ap.SupportsString(DiffMode, "", "diff mode", "Determines how to display modified rows with tabular output. Valid values are row, line, in-place, context. Defaults to context.")
@@ -286,7 +287,9 @@ func parseDiffArgs(queryist cli.Queryist, sqlCtx *sql.Context, apr *argparser.Ar
 		diffDisplaySettings: parseDiffDisplaySettings(apr),
 	}
 
-	tableNames, err := dArgs.applyDiffRoots(queryist, sqlCtx, apr.Args, apr.Contains(cli.CachedFlag), apr.Contains(MergeBase))
+	staged := apr.Contains(cli.StagedFlag) || apr.Contains(cli.CachedFlag)
+
+	tableNames, err := dArgs.applyDiffRoots(queryist, sqlCtx, apr.Args, staged, apr.Contains(MergeBase))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/integration-tests/bats/diff.bats b/integration-tests/bats/diff.bats
index d948dee7b1f..4736a74d09e 100644
--- a/integration-tests/bats/diff.bats
+++ b/integration-tests/bats/diff.bats
@@ -1021,8 +1021,8 @@ SQL
     [[ "$output" =~ "where poop = 0" ]] || false
 }
 
-@test "diff: --cached" {
-    run dolt diff --cached
+@test "diff: --cached/--staged" {
+    run dolt diff --staged
     [ $status -eq 0 ]
     [ "$output" = "" ]
 
@@ -1038,7 +1038,7 @@ SQL
 
     CORRECT_DIFF=$output
     dolt add test
-    run dolt diff --cached
+    run dolt diff --staged
     [ $status -eq 0 ]
     [ "$output" = "$CORRECT_DIFF" ]