diff --git a/gtk/updateiconcache.c b/gtk/updateiconcache.c
index b186e9ad70..36b915817c 100644
--- a/gtk/updateiconcache.c
+++ b/gtk/updateiconcache.c
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
 static gboolean force_update = FALSE;
 static gboolean ignore_theme_index = FALSE;
 static gboolean quiet = FALSE;
-static gboolean index_only = FALSE;
+static gboolean index_only = TRUE;
 static gboolean validate = FALSE;
 static gchar *var_name = "-";