diff --git a/app/vmselect/prometheus/prometheus.go b/app/vmselect/prometheus/prometheus.go
index c388271919..4a9080ab55 100644
--- a/app/vmselect/prometheus/prometheus.go
+++ b/app/vmselect/prometheus/prometheus.go
@@ -554,7 +554,9 @@ func QueryHandler(at *auth.Token, w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) error
 	if len(query) > *maxQueryLen {
 		return fmt.Errorf(`too long query; got %d bytes; mustn't exceed %d bytes`, len(query), *maxQueryLen)
 	}
-	if ct-start < queryOffset {
+	if !getBool(r, "nocache") && ct-start < queryOffset {
+		// Adjust start time only if `nocache` arg isn't set.
+		// See https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/241
 		start = ct - queryOffset
 	}
 	if childQuery, windowStr, offsetStr := promql.IsMetricSelectorWithRollup(query); childQuery != "" {