diff --git a/cmd/gh/main.go b/cmd/gh/main.go
index 17bce66fc..2e8513384 100644
--- a/cmd/gh/main.go
+++ b/cmd/gh/main.go
@@ -93,15 +93,15 @@ func main() {
 		}
 	}
 
-	_, skipAuthCheck := cmd.Annotations["skipAuthCheck"]
+	authCheckEnabled := cmdutil.IsAuthCheckEnabled(cmd)
 
 	// TODO support other names
 	ghtoken := os.Getenv("GITHUB_TOKEN")
 	if ghtoken != "" {
-		skipAuthCheck = true
+		authCheckEnabled = false
 	}
 
-	if !skipAuthCheck {
+	if authCheckEnabled {
 		hasAuth := false
 
 		cfg, err := cmdFactory.Config()
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/auth/login/login.go b/pkg/cmd/auth/login/login.go
index 219999d8c..7d53839c6 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/auth/login/login.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/auth/login/login.go
@@ -95,8 +95,6 @@ func NewCmdLogin(f *cmdutil.Factory, runF func(*LoginOptions) error) *cobra.Comm
 		},
 	}
 
-	cmdutil.DisableAuthCheck(cmd)
-
 	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&opts.Hostname, "hostname", "h", "", "The hostname of the GitHub instance to authenticate with")
 	cmd.Flags().Bool("with-token", false, "Read token from standard input")
 
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/auth/logout/logout.go b/pkg/cmd/auth/logout/logout.go
index db9a57165..6f047a079 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/auth/logout/logout.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/auth/logout/logout.go
@@ -57,8 +57,6 @@ func NewCmdLogout(f *cmdutil.Factory, runF func(*LogoutOptions) error) *cobra.Co
 		},
 	}
 
-	cmdutil.DisableAuthCheck(cmd)
-
 	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&opts.Hostname, "hostname", "h", "", "The hostname of the GitHub instance to log out of")
 
 	return cmd
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/auth/refresh/refresh.go b/pkg/cmd/auth/refresh/refresh.go
index e85aa195c..8a69ea0e2 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/auth/refresh/refresh.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/auth/refresh/refresh.go
@@ -57,8 +57,6 @@ func NewCmdRefresh(f *cmdutil.Factory, runF func(*RefreshOptions) error) *cobra.
 		},
 	}
 
-	cmdutil.DisableAuthCheck(cmd)
-
 	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&opts.Hostname, "hostname", "h", "", "The GitHub host to use for authentication")
 	cmd.Flags().StringSliceVarP(&opts.Scopes, "scopes", "s", nil, "Additional authentication scopes for gh to have")
 
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/auth/status/status.go b/pkg/cmd/auth/status/status.go
index 7995f40e6..09d2f2fde 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/auth/status/status.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/auth/status/status.go
@@ -57,8 +57,6 @@ func NewCmdStatus(f *cmdutil.Factory, runF func(*StatusOptions) error) *cobra.Co
 		},
 	}
 
-	cmdutil.DisableAuthCheck(cmd)
-
 	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&opts.Hostname, "hostname", "h", "", "Check a specific hostname's auth status")
 
 	return cmd
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/config/config.go b/pkg/cmd/config/config.go
index ee5c45b9f..3fa86ddcb 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/config/config.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/config/config.go
@@ -58,8 +58,6 @@ func NewCmdConfigGet(f *cmdutil.Factory) *cobra.Command {
 		},
 	}
 
-	cmdutil.DisableAuthCheck(cmd)
-
 	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&hostname, "host", "h", "", "Get per-host setting")
 
 	return cmd
@@ -96,8 +94,6 @@ func NewCmdConfigSet(f *cmdutil.Factory) *cobra.Command {
 		},
 	}
 
-	cmdutil.DisableAuthCheck(cmd)
-
 	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&hostname, "host", "h", "", "Set per-host setting")
 
 	return cmd
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/factory/http.go b/pkg/cmd/factory/http.go
index 7a4ede424..1cccfda9c 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/factory/http.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/factory/http.go
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ func httpClient(io *iostreams.IOStreams, cfg config.Config, appVersion string, s
 			token, err := cfg.Get(hostname, "oauth_token")
 			if err != nil || token == "" {
 				// Users shouldn't see this because of the pre-execute auth check on commands
-				return "", fmt.Errorf("authentication required for %s; please run `gh auth login -h %s", hostname, hostname)
+				return "", fmt.Errorf("authentication required for %s; please run `gh auth login -h %s`", hostname, hostname)
 			}
 
 			return fmt.Sprintf("token %s", token), nil
diff --git a/pkg/cmdutil/auth_check.go b/pkg/cmdutil/auth_check.go
index 008ea998d..5d40d0143 100644
--- a/pkg/cmdutil/auth_check.go
+++ b/pkg/cmdutil/auth_check.go
@@ -31,3 +31,16 @@ func CheckAuth(cfg config.Config) bool {
 
 	return false
 }
+
+func IsAuthCheckEnabled(cmd *cobra.Command) bool {
+	if !cmd.Runnable() {
+		return false
+	}
+	for c := cmd; c.Parent() != nil; c = c.Parent() {
+		if c.Annotations != nil && c.Annotations["skipAuthCheck"] == "true" {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+
+	return true
+}