diff --git a/src/enkf/controlvec.f90 b/src/enkf/controlvec.f90
index 096154963..2195b3bd0 100644
--- a/src/enkf/controlvec.f90
+++ b/src/enkf/controlvec.f90
@@ -261,6 +261,8 @@ subroutine write_control(no_inflate_flag)
 real(r_single), allocatable, dimension(:,:) :: grdin_mean_tmp
 real(r_single), allocatable, dimension(:,:,:,:) :: grdin_mean
 
+character(len=max_varname_length), dimension(nc3d) :: no_vars3d
+
 if (nproc <= ntasks_io-1) then
 
    ! scale q by ensemble qsat, prior to averaging
@@ -335,6 +337,9 @@ subroutine write_control(no_inflate_flag)
            else
               call writegriddata(0,0,cvars3d,cvars2d,nc3d,nc2d,clevels,ncdim,grdin_mean,no_inflate_flag)
            end if
+        elseif (nc2d>0) then  ! always write sfc mean increment for land analysis
+           no_vars3d=''
+           call writeincrement(0,0,no_vars3d,cvars2d,nc3d,nc2d,clevels,ncdim,grdin_mean,no_inflate_flag)
         endif
         deallocate(grdin_mean)
         t2 = mpi_wtime()
@@ -358,6 +363,9 @@ subroutine write_control(no_inflate_flag)
         else
            call writegriddata(0,0,cvars3d,cvars2d,nc3d,nc2d,clevels,ncdim,grdin_mean,no_inflate_flag)
         end if
+     elseif (nc2d>0) then  ! always write sfc mean increment
+        no_vars3d=''
+        call writeincrement(0,0,no_vars3d,cvars2d,nc3d,nc2d,clevels,ncdim,grdin_mean,no_inflate_flag)
      endif
      deallocate(grdin_mean)
      t2 = mpi_wtime()
diff --git a/src/enkf/gridio_gfs.f90 b/src/enkf/gridio_gfs.f90
index 6e68f1a34..e2ce16e77 100644
--- a/src/enkf/gridio_gfs.f90
+++ b/src/enkf/gridio_gfs.f90
@@ -4114,7 +4114,7 @@ subroutine writeincrement(nanal1,nanal2,vars3d,vars2d,n3d,n2d,levels,ndim,grdin,
      write(charnanal,'(i3.3)') nanal
      sfcbackgroundloop: do nb=1,nbackgrounds
 
-     if (nanal == 0 .and. write_ensmean) then
+     if (nanal == 0 ) then
         filenamein = trim(adjustl(datapath))//trim(adjustl(fgsfcfileprefixes(nb)))//"ensmean"
         filenameout = trim(adjustl(datapath))//trim(adjustl(incsfcfileprefixes(nb)))//"ensmean"
      else