Chad Callihan says sometimes, the best answer is not to play the game:
After some database infrastructure changes related to phasing out the use of linked servers, I encountered issues with a setup tool used to build out new databases and other related features. One section of the tool was failing, and the errors indicated that there were still stored procedures utilizing linked servers, which was causing the problem. I asked myself a few questions on how best to proceed. Does the setup tool need to be updated? Do the related database procedures using linked servers need to be updated? Do the linked server changes made need to be rolled back altogether?
Read on for a proper Gordian Knot solution.