diff --git a/archivebox/archive_methods.py b/archivebox/archive_methods.py
index 09a01404..6c8cf217 100644
--- a/archivebox/archive_methods.py
+++ b/archivebox/archive_methods.py
@@ -207,7 +207,6 @@ def fetch_wget(link_dir, link, requisites=FETCH_WGET_REQUISITES, warc=FETCH_WARC
         'wget',
         # '--server-response',  # print headers for better error parsing
         '--no-verbose',
-        '--timestamping',
         '--adjust-extension',
         '--convert-links',
         '--force-directories',
@@ -215,7 +214,8 @@ def fetch_wget(link_dir, link, requisites=FETCH_WGET_REQUISITES, warc=FETCH_WARC
         '--span-hosts',
         '--no-parent',
         '--restrict-file-names=unix',
-        f'--timeout={timeout}',
+        '--timeout={}'.format(timeout),
+        *(() if warc else ('--timestamping',)),
         *(('--warc-file={}'.format(warc_path),) if warc else ()),
         *(('--page-requisites',) if FETCH_WGET_REQUISITES else ()),
         *(('--user-agent="{}"'.format(WGET_USER_AGENT),) if WGET_USER_AGENT else ()),