diff --git a/changelog/unreleased/issue-2739 b/changelog/unreleased/issue-2739
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a47a57d2c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/unreleased/issue-2739
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+Bugfix: Make cat command respect --no-lock
+
+Restic cat would not respect the --no-lock flag, it now does.
+
+https://github.com/restic/restic/issues/2739
diff --git a/cmd/restic/cmd_cat.go b/cmd/restic/cmd_cat.go
index e02d923bf..b0e33b5f4 100644
--- a/cmd/restic/cmd_cat.go
+++ b/cmd/restic/cmd_cat.go
@@ -42,10 +42,13 @@ func runCat(gopts GlobalOptions, args []string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	lock, err := lockRepo(gopts.ctx, repo)
-	defer unlockRepo(lock)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
+	if !gopts.NoLock {
+		lock, err := lockRepo(gopts.ctx, repo)
+		// Make the linter happy
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		defer func() { _ = unlockRepo(lock) }()
 	}
 
 	tpe := args[0]