diff --git a/daemons/ganeti-watcher b/daemons/ganeti-watcher
index 8b2b1830341988797e41120dbaacad2604ed3d6a..b81e7e81282385832245b105cfef8687f1459463 100755
--- a/daemons/ganeti-watcher
+++ b/daemons/ganeti-watcher
@@ -367,6 +367,12 @@ class Watcher(object):
       # Activate disks for all instances with any of the checked nodes as a
       # secondary node.
       for instance in GetInstanceList(with_secondaries=check_nodes):
+        if not instance.autostart:
+          self.messages.append(Message(NOTICE,
+                                       ("Skipping disk activation for"
+                                        " non-autostart instance '%s'." %
+                                        instance.name)))
+          continue
         try:
           self.messages.append(Message(NOTICE, ("Activating disks for %s." %
                                                 instance.name)))