diff --git a/src/bin/pg_rewind/pg_rewind.c b/src/bin/pg_rewind/pg_rewind.c
index d378053de4..f9d94764ad 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_rewind/pg_rewind.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_rewind/pg_rewind.c
@@ -388,7 +388,8 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 	ControlFile_new.minRecoveryPoint = endrec;
 	ControlFile_new.minRecoveryPointTLI = endtli;
 	ControlFile_new.state = DB_IN_ARCHIVE_RECOVERY;
-	update_controlfile(datadir_target, &ControlFile_new, do_sync);
+	if (!dry_run)
+		update_controlfile(datadir_target, &ControlFile_new, do_sync);
 
 	if (showprogress)
 		pg_log_info("syncing target data directory");