diff --git a/broker/client/reader.go b/broker/client/reader.go
index 72188cca..2237c837 100644
--- a/broker/client/reader.go
+++ b/broker/client/reader.go
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ func (r *Reader) Read(p []byte) (n int, err error) {
 
 	// If the frame preceding EOF provided a fragment URL, open it directly.
 	if !r.Request.MetadataOnly && r.Response.Status == pb.Status_OK && r.Response.FragmentUrl != "" {
-		if SkipSignedURLs > 0 {
+		if SkipSignedURLs {
 			fragURL := r.Response.Fragment.BackingStore.URL()
 			if fragURL.Scheme != "gs" {
 				return 0, fmt.Errorf("SkipSignedURL unsupported scheme: %s", fragURL.Scheme)
@@ -484,7 +484,7 @@ var (
 // stores_test.go, which is in broker/fragment, imports broker/client so we cannot import broker/fragment here
 // to avoid a cycle. Instead we will repeat a subset of store_gcs.go.
 
-var SkipSignedURLs = uint32(0)
+var SkipSignedURLs = false
 var gcs = &gcsBackend{}
 
 type gcsBackend struct {
diff --git a/cmd/gazette/main.go b/cmd/gazette/main.go
index d25cd574..35d975d3 100644
--- a/cmd/gazette/main.go
+++ b/cmd/gazette/main.go
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ func (cmdServe) Execute(args []string) error {
 }
 
 func main() {
-	var parser = flags.NewParser(Config, flags.Default)
+	var parser = flags.NewParser(Config, flags.Default|flags.AllowBoolValues)
 
 	_, _ = parser.AddCommand("serve", "Serve as Gazette broker", `
 Serve a Gazette broker with the provided configuration, until signaled to
diff --git a/mainboilerplate/runconsumer/run_consumer.go b/mainboilerplate/runconsumer/run_consumer.go
index b31663fa..b0072f55 100644
--- a/mainboilerplate/runconsumer/run_consumer.go
+++ b/mainboilerplate/runconsumer/run_consumer.go
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ type BaseConfig struct {
 		Limit          uint32        `long:"limit" env:"LIMIT" default:"32" description:"Maximum number of Shards this consumer process will allocate"`
 		MaxHotStandbys uint32        `long:"max-hot-standbys" env:"MAX_HOT_STANDBYS" default:"3" description:"Maximum effective hot standbys of any one shard, which upper-bounds its stated hot-standbys."`
 		WatchDelay     time.Duration `long:"watch-delay" env:"WATCH_DELAY" default:"30ms" description:"Delay applied to the application of watched Etcd events. Larger values amortize the processing of fast-changing Etcd keys."`
-		SkipSignedURLs uint32        `long:"skip-signed-urls" env:"SKIP_SIGNED_URLS" default:"0" description:"When a signed URL is received, use fragment info instead to retrieve data with auth header. This is useful when clients do not wish/require the signing."`
+		SkipSignedURLs bool          `long:"skip-signed-urls" env:"SKIP_SIGNED_URLS" default:"false" description:"When a signed URL is received, use fragment info instead to retrieve data with auth header. This is useful when clients do not wish/require the signing."`
 	} `group:"Consumer" namespace:"consumer" env-namespace:"CONSUMER"`
 
 	Broker struct {
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ func (sc Cmd) Execute(args []string) error {
 func Main(app Application) {
 	var cfg = app.NewConfig()
 
-	var parser = flags.NewParser(cfg, flags.Default)
+	var parser = flags.NewParser(cfg, flags.Default|flags.AllowBoolValues)
 	log.Info("Starting consumer...")
 	_, _ = parser.AddCommand("serve", "Serve as Gazette consumer", `
 		serve a Gazette consumer with the provided configuration, until signaled to