diff --git a/src/cargo/ops/registry.rs b/src/cargo/ops/registry.rs
index 091c26b6070..0584a771457 100644
--- a/src/cargo/ops/registry.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/ops/registry.rs
@@ -202,21 +202,20 @@ pub fn publish(ws: &Workspace<'_>, opts: &PublishOpts<'_>) -> CargoResult<()> {
     )?
     .unwrap();
 
-    let hash = cargo_util::Sha256::new()
-        .update_file(tarball.file())?
-        .finish_hex();
-    let mutation = auth::Mutation::Publish {
-        name: pkg.name().as_str(),
-        vers: &ver,
-        cksum: &hash,
-    };
-
     if !opts.dry_run {
+        let hash = cargo_util::Sha256::new()
+            .update_file(tarball.file())?
+            .finish_hex();
+        let mutation = Some(auth::Mutation::Publish {
+            name: pkg.name().as_str(),
+            vers: &ver,
+            cksum: &hash,
+        });
         registry.set_token(Some(auth::auth_token(
             &opts.config,
             &reg_ids.original,
             None,
-            Some(mutation),
+            mutation,
         )?));
     }
 
diff --git a/src/cargo/util/auth.rs b/src/cargo/util/auth.rs
index 467abc2635a..2a70ea37e27 100644
--- a/src/cargo/util/auth.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/util/auth.rs
@@ -579,7 +579,7 @@ pub enum Mutation<'a> {
         /// The version of the crate
         vers: &'a str,
     },
-    /// The user is attempting to unyank a crate.
+    /// The user is attempting to modify the owners of a crate.
     Owners {
         /// The name of the crate
         name: &'a str,