if it ain't broke, don't fix it

English

Proverb

if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

1. Leave something alone; avoid attempting to correct, fix, or improve what is already sufficient (often with an implication that the attempted improvement is risky and might backfire).

   I know it’s an ugly-looking antenna, but you know what they say: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Synonyms

• leave well enough alone
• never change a running system

Coordinate terms

• don’t change a winning team
• don’t change horses in midstream

Translations

leave something alone

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 東西沒壞就別修它／东西没坏就别修它, 东西没坏就别修它 (dōngxi méi huài jiù bié xiū tā)

• Danish: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: älä korjaa sitä, mikä ei ole rikki
• German: man soll nicht reparieren, was nicht kaputt ist
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hebrew: מה שעובד - לא נוגעים, אם זה לא מקולקל, אל תתקן
• Hindi: जो चीज़ खराब नहीं है उसे ठीक ना करें (jo cīz kharāb nahī̃ hai use ṭhīk nā karẽ)
• Portuguese: please add this translation if you can
• Russian: не сломалось — не чини (ne slomalosʹ — ne čini)
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can