diff --git a/migration/migration.c b/migration/migration.c
index 9faf5f63a627a7155f0d2fa1a13c53fa866af4e4..d34e57fc051f2919f5d7278d5ba57b61b9e1698d 100644
--- a/migration/migration.c
+++ b/migration/migration.c
@@ -2541,7 +2541,7 @@ 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.