diff --git a/fs/bcachefs/recovery.c b/fs/bcachefs/recovery.c
index 6bf9c48a7871..da9c3ea528e7 100644
--- a/fs/bcachefs/recovery.c
+++ b/fs/bcachefs/recovery.c
@@ -1081,15 +1081,17 @@ int bch2_fs_recovery(struct bch_fs *c)
 		set_bit(BCH_FS_REBUILD_REPLICAS, &c->flags);
 	}
 
-	if (c->sb.version < bcachefs_metadata_version_inode_backpointers) {
-		bch_info(c, "version prior to inode backpointers, upgrade and fsck required");
-		c->opts.version_upgrade	= true;
-		c->opts.fsck		= true;
-		c->opts.fix_errors	= FSCK_OPT_YES;
-	} else if (c->sb.version < bcachefs_metadata_version_subvol_dirent) {
-		bch_info(c, "filesystem version is prior to subvol_dirent - upgrading");
-		c->opts.version_upgrade = true;
-		c->opts.fsck		= true;
+	if (!c->opts.nochanges) {
+		if (c->sb.version < bcachefs_metadata_version_inode_backpointers) {
+			bch_info(c, "version prior to inode backpointers, upgrade and fsck required");
+			c->opts.version_upgrade	= true;
+			c->opts.fsck		= true;
+			c->opts.fix_errors	= FSCK_OPT_YES;
+		} else if (c->sb.version < bcachefs_metadata_version_subvol_dirent) {
+			bch_info(c, "filesystem version is prior to subvol_dirent - upgrading");
+			c->opts.version_upgrade = true;
+			c->opts.fsck		= true;
+		}
 	}
 
 	ret = bch2_blacklist_table_initialize(c);