diff --git a/lisp/gnus/gnus-int.el b/lisp/gnus/gnus-int.el
index 01053797b3..d2d7fd55ae 100644
--- a/lisp/gnus/gnus-int.el
+++ b/lisp/gnus/gnus-int.el
@@ -527,7 +527,11 @@ gnus-retrieve-headers
      ((and gnus-use-cache (numberp (car articles)))
       (gnus-cache-retrieve-headers articles group fetch-old))
      ((and gnus-agent (gnus-online gnus-command-method)
-	   (gnus-agent-method-p gnus-command-method))
+	   (gnus-agent-method-p gnus-command-method)
+	   (not gnus-nov-is-evil)
+	   (not (symbol-value
+		 (intern
+		  (format "%s-nov-is-evil" (car gnus-command-method))))))
       (gnus-agent-retrieve-headers articles group fetch-old))
      (t
       (funcall (gnus-get-function gnus-command-method 'retrieve-headers)