diff --git a/internal/cluster/orchestrator.go b/internal/cluster/orchestrator.go
index 6f18e4b..f51fb8c 100644
--- a/internal/cluster/orchestrator.go
+++ b/internal/cluster/orchestrator.go
@@ -248,6 +248,14 @@ func (o *Orchestrator) EtcdRestore(ctx context.Context, opts EtcdRestoreOptions)
 	if !o.sshManaged(controlPlane) {
 		return fmt.Errorf("cannot restore etcd on %s: node not in ssh_managed_nodes", controlPlane)
 	}
+	snapshotPath := strings.TrimSpace(opts.SnapshotPath)
+	if o.runner.DryRun {
+		if snapshotPath == "" {
+			snapshotPath = "<latest-snapshot-on-" + controlPlane + ">"
+		}
+		o.log.Printf("etcd restore target=%s snapshot=%s (dry-run; datastore-mode and snapshot checks skipped)", controlPlane, snapshotPath)
+		return nil
+	}
 	externalDatastore, err := o.controlPlaneUsesExternalDatastore(ctx, controlPlane)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -256,7 +264,6 @@ func (o *Orchestrator) EtcdRestore(ctx context.Context, opts EtcdRestoreOptions)
 		return fmt.Errorf("%w: %s uses --datastore-endpoint", ErrEtcdRestoreNotApplicable, controlPlane)
 	}
 
-	snapshotPath := strings.TrimSpace(opts.SnapshotPath)
 	if snapshotPath == "" {
 		resolved, err := o.latestEtcdSnapshotPath(ctx, controlPlane)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -265,9 +272,6 @@ func (o *Orchestrator) EtcdRestore(ctx context.Context, opts EtcdRestoreOptions)
 		snapshotPath = resolved
 	}
 	o.log.Printf("etcd restore target=%s snapshot=%s", controlPlane, snapshotPath)
-	if o.runner.DryRun {
-		return nil
-	}
 
 	for _, cp := range o.cfg.ControlPlanes {
 		cp := cp