diff --git a/src/lammps.cpp b/src/lammps.cpp
index 8e81f785de..fee24e785b 100644
--- a/src/lammps.cpp
+++ b/src/lammps.cpp
@@ -382,8 +382,7 @@ LAMMPS::LAMMPS(int narg, char **arg, MPI_Comm communicator) :
       if (iarg+3 > narg)
         error->universe_all(FLERR,"Invalid command-line argument");
       if (restart2dump)
-        error->universe_all(FLERR,
-                            "Cannot use both -restart2data and -restart2dump");
+        error->universe_all(FLERR, "Cannot use both -restart2data and -restart2dump");
       restart2data = 1;
       restartfile = arg[iarg+1];
       inflag = -1;               // skip inflag check
@@ -405,8 +404,7 @@ LAMMPS::LAMMPS(int narg, char **arg, MPI_Comm communicator) :
       if (iarg+3 > narg)
         error->universe_all(FLERR,"Invalid command-line argument");
       if (restart2data)
-        error->universe_all(FLERR,
-                            "Cannot use both -restart2data and -restart2dump");
+        error->universe_all(FLERR, "Cannot use both -restart2data and -restart2dump");
       restart2dump = 1;
       restartfile = arg[iarg+1];
       inflag = -1;               // skip inflag check
@@ -728,7 +726,6 @@ LAMMPS::LAMMPS(int narg, char **arg, MPI_Comm communicator) :
   // if either restart conversion option was used, invoke 2 commands and quit
   // add args between wfirst and wlast to write_data or write_data command
   // add "noinit" to write_data to prevent a system init
-  // write_dump will just give a warning message about no init
 
   if (restart2data || restart2dump) {
     std::string cmd = fmt::format("read_restart {}",restartfile);
@@ -738,7 +735,7 @@ LAMMPS::LAMMPS(int narg, char **arg, MPI_Comm communicator) :
     else cmd = "write_dump";
     for (iarg = wfirst; iarg < wlast; iarg++)
        cmd += fmt::format(" {}", arg[iarg]);
-    if (restart2data) cmd += " noinit";
+    cmd += " noinit";
     input->one(cmd);
     error->done(0);
   }
diff --git a/src/write_dump.cpp b/src/write_dump.cpp
index 6c932735eb..9e9150d10a 100644
--- a/src/write_dump.cpp
+++ b/src/write_dump.cpp
@@ -57,9 +57,17 @@ void WriteDump::command(int narg, char **arg)
   dumpargs[2] = arg[1];                                     // dump style
   dumpargs[3] = utils::strdup(std::to_string(dumpfreq));    // dump frequency
 
-  for (int i = 2; i < modindex; ++i) dumpargs[i + 2] = arg[i];
+  // copy arguments up to modify, but skip over "noinit" if present
+  int noinitwarn = 0;
+  for (int i = 2; i < modindex; ++i) {
+    if (strcmp(arg[i], "noinit") == 0) {
+      noinitwarn = 1;
+    } else {
+      dumpargs[i + 2 - noinitwarn] = arg[i];
+    }
+  }
 
-  auto *dump = output->add_dump(modindex + 2, dumpargs);
+  auto *dump = output->add_dump(modindex + 2 - noinitwarn, dumpargs);
 
   try {
     if (modindex < narg) dump->modify_params(narg - modindex - 1, &arg[modindex + 1]);
@@ -75,7 +83,7 @@ void WriteDump::command(int narg, char **arg)
 
   if (strcmp(arg[1], "image") == 0) (dynamic_cast<DumpImage *>(dump))->multifile_override = 1;
   if (strcmp(arg[1], "cfg") == 0) (dynamic_cast<DumpCFG *>(dump))->multifile_override = 1;
-  if ((update->first_update == 0) && (comm->me == 0))
+  if ((update->first_update == 0) && (comm->me == 0) && (noinitwarn == 0))
     error->warning(FLERR, "Calling write_dump before a full system init.");
 
   dump->init();