diff --git a/IPython/frontend/html/notebook/static/js/notebook.js b/IPython/frontend/html/notebook/static/js/notebook.js
index 268cd0f..fb9e9e0 100644
--- a/IPython/frontend/html/notebook/static/js/notebook.js
+++ b/IPython/frontend/html/notebook/static/js/notebook.js
@@ -1570,7 +1570,9 @@ var IPython = (function (IPython) {
this.autosave_interval = interval;
if (interval) {
this.autosave_timer = setInterval(function() {
- that.save_notebook();
+ if (that.dirty) {
+ that.save_notebook();
+ }
}, interval);
$([IPython.events]).trigger("autosave_enabled.Notebook", interval);
} else {