diff --git a/ovsdb/execution.c b/ovsdb/execution.c
index 8c20c3b54a1..f4cc9e802ba 100644
--- a/ovsdb/execution.c
+++ b/ovsdb/execution.c
@@ -585,6 +585,16 @@ mutate_row_cb(const struct ovsdb_row *row, void *mr_)
     return *mr->error == NULL;
 }
 
+static bool
+count_row_cb(const struct ovsdb_row *row OVS_UNUSED, void *rc)
+{
+    size_t *row_count = rc;
+
+    (*row_count)++;
+
+    return true;
+}
+
 static struct ovsdb_error *
 ovsdb_execute_mutate(struct ovsdb_execution *x, struct ovsdb_parser *parser,
                      struct json *result)
@@ -609,7 +619,18 @@ ovsdb_execute_mutate(struct ovsdb_execution *x, struct ovsdb_parser *parser,
         error = ovsdb_condition_from_json(table->schema, where, x->symtab,
                                           &condition);
     }
-    if (!error) {
+    if (!error && ovsdb_mutation_set_empty(&mutations)) {
+        /* Special case with no mutations, just return the row count. */
+        if (ovsdb_condition_empty(&condition)) {
+            json_object_put(result, "count",
+                            json_integer_create(hmap_count(&table->rows)));
+        } else {
+            size_t row_count = 0;
+            ovsdb_query(table, &condition, count_row_cb, &row_count);
+            json_object_put(result, "count",
+                            json_integer_create(row_count));
+        }
+    } else if (!error) {
         mr.n_matches = 0;
         mr.txn = x->txn;
         mr.mutations = &mutations;
diff --git a/ovsdb/mutation.h b/ovsdb/mutation.h
index 7566ef199d6..05d4a262a98 100644
--- a/ovsdb/mutation.h
+++ b/ovsdb/mutation.h
@@ -69,4 +69,10 @@ void ovsdb_mutation_set_destroy(struct ovsdb_mutation_set *);
 struct ovsdb_error *ovsdb_mutation_set_execute(
     struct ovsdb_row *, const struct ovsdb_mutation_set *) OVS_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT;
 
+static inline bool ovsdb_mutation_set_empty(
+    const struct ovsdb_mutation_set *ms)
+{
+    return ms->n_mutations == 0;
+}
+
 #endif /* ovsdb/mutation.h */
diff --git a/tests/ovsdb-execution.at b/tests/ovsdb-execution.at
index fd1c7a2395b..1ffa2b73854 100644
--- a/tests/ovsdb-execution.at
+++ b/tests/ovsdb-execution.at
@@ -1201,4 +1201,55 @@ OVSDB_CHECK_EXECUTION([garbage collection],
 [{"rows":[]}]
 ]])])
 
+OVSDB_CHECK_EXECUTION([insert rows, count with mutation],
+  [ordinal_schema],
+  [[[["ordinals",
+      {"op": "insert",
+       "table": "ordinals",
+       "row": {"number": 0, "name": "zero"},
+       "uuid-name": "first"}]]],
+   [[["ordinals",
+      {"op": "insert",
+       "table": "ordinals",
+       "row": {"number": 1, "name": "one"},
+       "uuid-name": "first"}]]],
+   [[["ordinals",
+      {"op": "mutate",
+       "table": "ordinals",
+       "where": [["name", "==", "zero"]],
+       "mutations": []}]]],
+   [[["ordinals",
+      {"op": "mutate",
+       "table": "ordinals",
+       "where": [["name", "==", "one"]],
+       "mutations": []}]]],
+   [[["ordinals",
+      {"op": "insert",
+       "table": "ordinals",
+       "row": {"number": 2, "name": "one"},
+       "uuid-name": "first"}]]],
+   [[["ordinals",
+      {"op": "mutate",
+       "table": "ordinals",
+       "where": [["name", "==", "one"]],
+       "mutations": []}]]],
+   [[["ordinals",
+      {"op": "delete",
+       "table": "ordinals",
+       "where": [["name", "==", "zero"]]}]]],
+   [[["ordinals",
+      {"op": "mutate",
+       "table": "ordinals",
+       "where": [],
+       "mutations": []}]]]],
+  [[[{"uuid":["uuid","<0>"]}]
+[{"uuid":["uuid","<1>"]}]
+[{"count":1}]
+[{"count":1}]
+[{"uuid":["uuid","<2>"]}]
+[{"count":2}]
+[{"count":1}]
+[{"count":2}]
+]])
+
 EXECUTION_EXAMPLES
diff --git a/tests/ovsdb-rbac.at b/tests/ovsdb-rbac.at
index 3172e4bf558..c1e5a9134eb 100644
--- a/tests/ovsdb-rbac.at
+++ b/tests/ovsdb-rbac.at
@@ -355,6 +355,29 @@ AT_CHECK([uuidfilt stdout], [0], [[[{"details":"RBAC rules for client \"client-2
 ], [ignore])
 
 # Test 14:
+# Count the rows in other_colors. This should pass even though the RBAC
+# authorization would fail because "client-2" does not match the
+# "creator" column for this row. Because the RBAC check is bypassed when
+# mutation is empty.
+AT_CHECK([ovsdb-client transact ssl:127.0.0.1:$SSL_PORT \
+        --private-key=$RBAC_PKIDIR/client-2-privkey.pem \
+        --certificate=$RBAC_PKIDIR/client-2-cert.pem \
+        --ca-cert=$RBAC_PKIDIR/pki/switchca/cacert.pem \
+        ['["mydb",
+         {"op": "mutate",
+          "table": "other_colors",
+          "where": [],
+          "mutations": []},
+         {"op": "mutate",
+          "table": "other_colors",
+          "where": [["name", "==", "seafoam"]],
+          "mutations": []}
+         ]']], [0], [stdout], [ignore])
+cat stdout >> output
+AT_CHECK([uuidfilt stdout], [0], [[[{"count":1},{"count":1}]]
+], [ignore])
+
+# Test 15:
 # Attempt to delete a row from the "other_colors" table. This should pass
 # the RBAC authorization test because "client-1" does matches the
 # "creator" column for this row.