diff --git a/changes/bug5605 b/changes/bug5605
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ae66a6e96c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/bug5605
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+o Minor Bugfixes:
+    - No longer writing control ports to file if updating reversible options fail. Fixes #5605.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/or/config.c b/src/or/config.c
index 14e8f9ab37..95cede0153 100644
--- a/src/or/config.c
+++ b/src/or/config.c
@@ -1129,9 +1129,6 @@ options_act_reversible(const or_options_t *old_options, char **msg)
     /* No need to roll back, since you can't change the value. */
   }
 
-  /* Write control ports to disk as appropriate */
-  control_ports_write_to_file();
-
   if (directory_caches_v2_dir_info(options)) {
     char *fn = NULL;
     tor_asprintf(&fn, "%s"PATH_SEPARATOR"cached-status",
@@ -1330,6 +1327,9 @@ options_act(const or_options_t *old_options)
     }
   }
 
+  /* Write control ports to disk as appropriate */
+  control_ports_write_to_file();
+
   if (running_tor && !have_lockfile()) {
     if (try_locking(options, 1) < 0)
       return -1;