diff --git a/migration/migration.c b/migration/migration.c
index 0c51aa6ac7..d7f8b428e0 100644
--- a/migration/migration.c
+++ b/migration/migration.c
@@ -2486,7 +2486,7 @@ retry:
 out:
     res = qemu_file_get_error(rp);
     if (res) {
-        if (res == -EIO) {
+        if (res == -EIO && migration_in_postcopy()) {
             /*
              * Maybe there is something we can do: it looks like a
              * network down issue, and we pause for a recovery.