diff --git a/src/evaluator.rs b/src/evaluator.rs
index 5cb6cec876..da18ca149e 100644
--- a/src/evaluator.rs
+++ b/src/evaluator.rs
@@ -689,6 +689,8 @@ impl<'src, 'run> Evaluator<'src, 'run> {
     command: &str,
     args: Option<&[String]>,
   ) -> Result<String, OutputError> {
+    assert!(!context.config.dry_run);
+
     let mut cmd = context.module.settings.shell_command(context.config);
 
     cmd.arg(command);
diff --git a/src/function.rs b/src/function.rs
index 691695e480..1188f036be 100644
--- a/src/function.rs
+++ b/src/function.rs
@@ -634,6 +634,22 @@ fn sha256_file(context: Context, path: &str) -> StringResult {
 }
 
 fn shell(context: Context, command: &str, args: &[String]) -> StringResult {
+  if context.execution_context.config.dry_run {
+    let mut output = String::from("shell(");
+    for (i, arg) in iter::once(command)
+      .chain(args.iter().map(String::as_str))
+      .enumerate()
+    {
+      if i > 0 {
+        output.push_str(", ");
+      }
+      output.push_str(&Element(arg).color_display(Color::never()).to_string());
+    }
+    output.push(')');
+
+    return Ok(output);
+  }
+
   Evaluator::run_command(
     context.execution_context,
     &BTreeMap::new(),
diff --git a/tests/functions.rs b/tests/functions.rs
index eb19383718..a7815aa2c0 100644
--- a/tests/functions.rs
+++ b/tests/functions.rs
@@ -1636,3 +1636,35 @@ fn num_jobs_requires_lists() {
     )
     .failure();
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn dry_run_does_not_execute_shell_function() {
+  Test::new()
+    .justfile(
+      "
+        foo:
+          echo {{ shell('exit 1') }}
+      ",
+    )
+    .arg("--dry-run")
+    .stderr("echo shell(\"exit 1\")\n")
+    .success();
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn dry_run_shell_function_output_is_escaped() {
+  Test::new()
+    .justfile(
+      r#"
+        foo:
+          echo {{ shell('exit 1', '"') }}
+      "#,
+    )
+    .arg("--dry-run")
+    .stderr(
+      r#"
+        echo shell("exit 1", "\"")
+      "#,
+    )
+    .success();
+}