diff --git a/lib/thor/actions/file_manipulation.rb b/lib/thor/actions/file_manipulation.rb
index 0bccba41..88ef97be 100644
--- a/lib/thor/actions/file_manipulation.rb
+++ b/lib/thor/actions/file_manipulation.rb
@@ -264,9 +264,12 @@ def inject_into_module(path, module_name, *args, &block)
     def gsub_file!(path, flag, *args, &block)
       config = args.last.is_a?(Hash) ? args.pop : {}
 
-      config[:error_on_no_change] = true
+      return unless behavior == :invoke || config.fetch(:force, false)
+
+      path = File.expand_path(path, destination_root)
+      say_status :gsub, relative_to_original_destination_root(path), config.fetch(:verbose, true)
 
-      gsub_file(path, flag, *args, config, &block)
+      actually_gsub_file(path, flag, args, true, &block) unless options[:pretend]
     end
 
     # Run a regular expression replacement on a file.
@@ -275,8 +278,7 @@ def gsub_file!(path, flag, *args, &block)
     # path<String>:: path of the file to be changed
     # flag<Regexp|String>:: the regexp or string to be replaced
     # replacement<String>:: the replacement, can be also given as a block
-    # config<Hash>:: give :verbose => false to not log the status,
-    #                :error_on_no_change => true to raise an error if the file does not change, and
+    # config<Hash>:: give :verbose => false to not log the status, and
     #                :force => true, to force the replacement regardless of runner behavior.
     #
     # ==== Example
@@ -295,16 +297,7 @@ def gsub_file(path, flag, *args, &block)
       path = File.expand_path(path, destination_root)
       say_status :gsub, relative_to_original_destination_root(path), config.fetch(:verbose, true)
 
-      unless options[:pretend]
-        content = File.binread(path)
-        success = content.gsub!(flag, *args, &block)
-
-        if success.nil? && config.fetch(:error_on_no_change, false)
-          raise Thor::Error, "The content of #{path} did not change"
-        end
-
-        File.open(path, "wb") { |file| file.write(content) }
-      end
+      actually_gsub_file(path, flag, args, false, &block) unless options[:pretend]
     end
 
     # Uncomment all lines matching a given regex.  It will leave the space
@@ -391,6 +384,17 @@ def with_output_buffer(buf = "".dup) #:nodoc:
       self.output_buffer = old_buffer
     end
 
+    def actually_gsub_file(path, flag, args, error_on_no_change, &block)
+      content = File.binread(path)
+      success = content.gsub!(flag, *args, &block)
+
+      if success.nil? && error_on_no_change
+        raise Thor::Error, "The content of #{path} did not change"
+      end
+
+      File.open(path, "wb") { |file| file.write(content) }
+    end
+
     # Thor::Actions#capture depends on what kind of buffer is used in ERB.
     # Thus CapturableERB fixes ERB to use String buffer.
     class CapturableERB < ERB
diff --git a/spec/actions/file_manipulation_spec.rb b/spec/actions/file_manipulation_spec.rb
index 8f647821..1333b994 100644
--- a/spec/actions/file_manipulation_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/actions/file_manipulation_spec.rb
@@ -421,21 +421,6 @@ def file
           action :gsub_file, "doc/README", "___start___", "START"
           expect(File.binread(file)).to eq("__start__\nREADME\n__end__\n")
         end
-
-        context "with error_on_no_change" do
-          it "replaces the content in the file" do
-            action :gsub_file, "doc/README", "__start__", "START", error_on_no_change: true
-            expect(File.binread(file)).to eq("START\nREADME\n__end__\n")
-          end
-
-          it "raises if the file contents did not change" do
-            expect do
-              action :gsub_file, "doc/README", "___start___", "START", error_on_no_change: true
-            end.to raise_error(Thor::Error, "The content of #{destination_root}/doc/README did not change")
-
-            expect(File.binread(file)).to eq("__start__\nREADME\n__end__\n")
-          end
-        end
       end
 
       context "with revoke behavior" do