diff --git a/src/babashka/pods/impl.clj b/src/babashka/pods/impl.clj
index c01ab24..313b61f 100644
--- a/src/babashka/pods/impl.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/pods/impl.clj
@@ -383,14 +383,19 @@
                   (read-readers describe-reply resolve-fn))]
     {:format format, :ops ops, :readers readers}))
 
-(defn load-pod-metadata [pod-spec opts]
-  (let [{:keys [:pod-spec :opts]} (resolve-pod pod-spec opts)
-        running-pod (run-pod pod-spec opts)
+(defn run-pod-for-metadata [pod-spec opts]
+  (let [running-pod    (run-pod pod-spec opts)
         describe-reply (describe-pod running-pod)
         ops (describe->ops describe-reply)]
     (destroy* (assoc running-pod :ops ops))
     describe-reply))
 
+(defn load-pod-metadata [pod-spec {:keys [:download-only] :as opts}]
+  (let [{:keys [:pod-spec :opts]} (resolve-pod pod-spec opts)]
+    (if download-only
+      (resolver/warn "Not running pod" pod-spec "to pre-cache metadata because OS and/or arch are different than system")
+      (run-pod-for-metadata pod-spec opts))))
+
 (defn load-pod
   ([pod-spec] (load-pod pod-spec nil))
   ([pod-spec opts]
diff --git a/src/babashka/pods/sci.clj b/src/babashka/pods/sci.clj
index 240886d..986d2d4 100644
--- a/src/babashka/pods/sci.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/pods/sci.clj
@@ -43,7 +43,8 @@
 
 (defn load-pod-metadata* [bb-edn-file pod-spec {:keys [:version :cache] :as opts}]
   (let [metadata (impl/load-pod-metadata pod-spec opts)
-        cache-file (when cache (metadata-cache-file bb-edn-file pod-spec opts))]
+        cache-file (when (and metadata cache)
+                     (metadata-cache-file bb-edn-file pod-spec opts))]
     (when cache-file
       (io/make-parents cache-file)
       (when (fs/writable? (fs/parent cache-file))