diff --git a/doc/bison.texi b/doc/bison.texi
index c31e851b..884a7bd8 100644
--- a/doc/bison.texi
+++ b/doc/bison.texi
@@ -10272,8 +10272,8 @@ Print the name of the directory containing skeletons and XSLT.
 @item -u
 @item --update
 Update the grammar file (remove duplicates, update deprecated directives,
-etc.).  Leaves a backup of the original file with a @code{~} appended.  For
-instance:
+etc.) and exit (i.e., do not generate any of the output files).  Leaves a
+backup of the original file with a @code{~} appended.  For instance:
 
 @example
 @group
diff --git a/src/getargs.c b/src/getargs.c
index a66e4c66..95572681 100644
--- a/src/getargs.c
+++ b/src/getargs.c
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ Operation modes:\n\
                              and exit\n\
       --print-datadir        output directory containing skeletons and XSLT\n\
                              and exit\n\
-  -u, --update               apply fixes to the source grammar file\n\
+  -u, --update               apply fixes to the source grammar file and exit\n\
   -y, --yacc                 emulate POSIX Yacc\n\
   -W, --warnings[=CATEGORY]  report the warnings falling in CATEGORY\n\
   -f, --feature[=FEATURE]    activate miscellaneous features\n\
diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index 10a07d2e..0fbbca05 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -155,31 +155,34 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
 
   print_precedence_warnings ();
 
-  /* Output file names. */
-  compute_output_file_names ();
-
-  /* Output the detailed report on the grammar.  */
-  if (report_flag)
+  if (!update_flag)
     {
-      timevar_push (tv_report);
-      print_results ();
-      timevar_pop (tv_report);
-    }
+      /* Output file names. */
+      compute_output_file_names ();
 
-  /* Output the graph.  */
-  if (graph_flag)
-    {
-      timevar_push (tv_graph);
-      print_graph ();
-      timevar_pop (tv_graph);
-    }
+      /* Output the detailed report on the grammar.  */
+      if (report_flag)
+        {
+          timevar_push (tv_report);
+          print_results ();
+          timevar_pop (tv_report);
+        }
 
-  /* Output xml.  */
-  if (xml_flag)
-    {
-      timevar_push (tv_xml);
-      print_xml ();
-      timevar_pop (tv_xml);
+      /* Output the graph.  */
+      if (graph_flag)
+        {
+          timevar_push (tv_graph);
+          print_graph ();
+          timevar_pop (tv_graph);
+        }
+
+      /* Output xml.  */
+      if (xml_flag)
+        {
+          timevar_push (tv_xml);
+          print_xml ();
+          timevar_pop (tv_xml);
+        }
     }
 
   /* Stop if there were errors, to avoid trashing previous output
@@ -193,9 +196,12 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
   timevar_pop (tv_free);
 
   /* Output the tables and the parser to ftable.  In file output.  */
-  timevar_push (tv_parser);
-  output ();
-  timevar_pop (tv_parser);
+  if (!update_flag)
+    {
+      timevar_push (tv_parser);
+      output ();
+      timevar_pop (tv_parser);
+    }
 
   timevar_push (tv_free);
   nullable_free ();
diff --git a/tests/input.at b/tests/input.at
index 11f02ce5..8853af51 100644
--- a/tests/input.at
+++ b/tests/input.at
@@ -2500,7 +2500,7 @@ AT_DATA_GRAMMAR([[input.y]],
 %no-default_prec
 %no_default-prec
 %no_lines
-%output = "foo"
+%output = "output.c"
 %pure_parser
 %token_table
 %error-verbose
@@ -2559,7 +2559,9 @@ AT_BISON_CHECK([[-ffixit input.y]], [], [], [experr])
 AT_CHECK([[sed -e '/^fix-it:/d' errors-all >experr]])
 AT_BISON_CHECK([[input.y]], [], [], [experr])
 
-# Update the input file.
+
+# Update the input file.  Make sure we generated nothing.
+AT_CHECK([rm -f output.c])
 AT_CHECK([cp input.y input.y.orig])
 AT_CHECK([sed -e '/fix-it/d' <errors-all >experr])
 AT_CHECK([echo "bison: file 'input.y' was updated (backup: 'input.y~')" >>experr])
@@ -2568,6 +2570,9 @@ AT_BISON_CHECK([[--update input.y]], [], [[]], [experr])
 # Check the backup.
 AT_CHECK([diff input.y.orig input.y~])
 
+# Check we did not generate any file.
+AT_CHECK([test ! -f output.c])
+
 # Check the update.
 AT_CHECK([cat input.y], [],
 [[%code top {
@@ -2588,7 +2593,7 @@ AT_CHECK([cat input.y], [],
 %no-default-prec
 %no-default-prec
 %no-lines
-%output "foo"
+%output "output.c"
 %pure-parser
 %token-table
 %glr-parser