PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate whether organizational support for innovation and informational extrinsic rewards moderate the relationship between intrinsic motivation and innovative work behavior.Design/methodology/approachMultiple and hierarchical regression analyses based on data from 150 knowledge workers tested the hypotheses for a South African sample.FindingsThe results confirmed a positive relationship between intrinsic motivation and innovative work behavior, and found positive relationships between both organizational support for innovation and informational extrinsic rewards and innovative work behavior. While organizational support positively moderated the relationship between intrinsic motivation and innovative work behavior, acting in synergy with intrinsic motivation, informational extrinsic rewards had a negative moderating effect.Practical implicationsWhen organizations want to encourage knowledge workers to generate, promote and realize innovative ideas, they should create an environment that encourages autonomy, competence and relatedness, with support for creativity and differences of ideas.Originality/valueThe study provides new indications of the interactions of synergistic extrinsic rewards and intrinsic motivation to affect innovative work behavior.