diff --git a/.husky/pre-commit b/.husky/pre-commit
index 0f04b859c..ea48d6b17 100755
--- a/.husky/pre-commit
+++ b/.husky/pre-commit
@@ -2,4 +2,9 @@
 . "$(dirname -- "$0")/_/husky.sh"
 
 yarn lint-staged
-cargo fmt --all --check --manifest-path rust/Cargo.toml
+
+# if any *.rs files have changed
+if git diff --staged --exit-code --name-only | grep -q -E ".*\.rs$"; then
+    echo "Running cargo fmt pre-commit hook"
+    cargo fmt --all --check --manifest-path rust/Cargo.toml
+fi