<p>Artificial light at night is an expanding phenomenon that affects biodiversity at the global scale. Mitigation measures consisting in switching off public lights during a part of the night are increasingly used. Whether such measures actually benefit biodiversity, beyond reducing the energy budget of municipalities, remains largely untested. We investigated the effect of part-time lighting on the behaviour of adult spiny toads (<i>Bufo spinosus</i>). We analysed the distance travelled and the use of shelters by individuals in arenas kept in the dark or exposed to light all night or part of it, i.e. excluding the 23:00–05:00 time period. Treatment had a relatively small effect on distance travelled during the night but shelters were increasingly used as the duration of the lit period at night increased. Moreover, the group exposed to partial lighting increased travelled distance, but weakly, and time spent in shelter when lights were switched on in the morning. Part-time lighting does not allow toads to recover the same activity level as control individuals. The larger use of shelter questions the capacity of individuals to forage and disperse efficiently if they do not move far away from shelters or dense vegetation cover. Moreover, the change in activity associated with switching on the light may induce physiological costs for individuals that may accumulate over time and eventually affect survival, dispersal, or reproduction. Our results support the idea that part-time lighting is not an entirely satisfactory mitigation solution for toads.</p>