diff --git a/maxctrl/lib/cluster.js b/maxctrl/lib/cluster.js
index 87bc14e55..1b3b4cc33 100644
--- a/maxctrl/lib/cluster.js
+++ b/maxctrl/lib/cluster.js
@@ -273,9 +273,29 @@ exports.builder = function(yargs) {
                                         promises.push(doAsyncRequest(host, i + '/' + j.id, null, {method: 'PATCH', body: {data: j}}))
                                     })
                                 })
+
+                                if (src['maxscale']) {
+                                    // TODO: Don't filter the altered parameters on the client side. The REST
+                                    //       API should ignore no-op changes.
+                                    src['maxscale'].data.attributes.parameters = _.pick(
+                                        src['maxscale'].data.attributes.parameters,
+                                        ['auth_connect_timeout',
+                                         'auth_read_timeout',
+                                         'auth_write_timeout',
+                                         'admin_auth',
+                                         'admin_log_auth_failures',
+                                         'passive',
+                                         'ms_timestamp',
+                                         'skip_permission_checks',
+                                         'query_retries',
+                                         'query_retry_timeout',
+                                         'retain_last_statements',
+                                         'dump_last_statements'])
+                                }
+
                                 // Do the same for individual resources
                                 endpoints.forEach(function(i) {
-                                    promises.push(doAsyncRequest(host, i, null, {method: 'PATCH', body: dest[i]}))
+                                    promises.push(doAsyncRequest(host, i, null, {method: 'PATCH', body: src[i]}))
                                 })
                                 return Promise.all(promises)
                             })
diff --git a/maxctrl/test/cluster.js b/maxctrl/test/cluster.js
index bae4dd960..fd6292577 100644
--- a/maxctrl/test/cluster.js
+++ b/maxctrl/test/cluster.js
@@ -156,6 +156,15 @@ describe('Cluster Command Internals', function() {
 describe('Cluster Sync', function() {
     before(startDoubleMaxScale)
 
+    it('sync global options', function() {
+        return doCommand('alter maxscale auth_connect_timeout 1234 --hosts ' + secondary_host)
+            .then(() => verifyCommand('cluster sync ' + secondary_host + ' --hosts ' + primary_host,
+                                      'maxscale'))
+            .then(function(res) {
+                res.data.attributes.parameters.auth_connect_timeout.should.equal(1234)
+            })
+    })
+
     it('sync after server creation', function() {
         return doCommand('create server server5 127.0.0.1 3003 --hosts ' + secondary_host)
             .then(() => verifyCommand('cluster sync ' + secondary_host + ' --hosts ' + primary_host,