diff --git a/src/librustc_trans/back/link.rs b/src/librustc_trans/back/link.rs
index bdda7741221f5..514d76a4129ec 100644
--- a/src/librustc_trans/back/link.rs
+++ b/src/librustc_trans/back/link.rs
@@ -146,8 +146,9 @@ pub(crate) fn link_binary(sess: &Session,
     let mut out_filenames = Vec::new();
     for &crate_type in sess.crate_types.borrow().iter() {
         // Ignore executable crates if we have -Z no-trans, as they will error.
-        if (sess.opts.debugging_opts.no_trans ||
-            !sess.opts.output_types.should_trans()) &&
+        let output_metadata = sess.opts.output_types.contains_key(&OutputType::Metadata);
+        if (sess.opts.debugging_opts.no_trans || !sess.opts.output_types.should_trans()) &&
+           !output_metadata &&
            crate_type == config::CrateTypeExecutable {
             continue;
         }