diff --git a/news/6852.feature b/news/6852.feature
index 8f822b38a9c..30097e82a8f 100644
--- a/news/6852.feature
+++ b/news/6852.feature
@@ -2,3 +2,4 @@ Cache wheels that ``pip wheel`` built locally, matching what
 ``pip install`` does. This particularly helps performance in workflows where
 ``pip wheel`` is used for `building before installing
 <https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/user_guide/#installing-from-local-packages>`_.
+Users desiring the original behavior can use ``pip wheel --no-cache-dir``.
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/wheel.py b/src/pip/_internal/wheel.py
index 5ff108cc2ca..62937eaf0a1 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/wheel.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/wheel.py
@@ -1170,7 +1170,6 @@ def build(
                     python_tag=python_tag,
                 )
                 if wheel_file:
-                    build_success.append(req)
                     self.wheel_filenames.append(
                         os.path.relpath(wheel_file, output_dir)
                     )
@@ -1213,6 +1212,7 @@ def build(
                             )
                             build_failure.append(req)
                             continue
+                    build_success.append(req)
                 else:
                     build_failure.append(req)