diff --git a/include/net/xdp_sock.h b/include/net/xdp_sock.h
index 06c081feff42..2b2eb9b9d580 100644
--- a/include/net/xdp_sock.h
+++ b/include/net/xdp_sock.h
@@ -141,13 +141,16 @@ INDIRECT_CALLABLE_DECLARE(void xsk_destruct_skb(struct sk_buff *));
 static inline void xsk_tx_metadata_to_compl(struct xsk_tx_metadata *meta,
 					    struct xsk_tx_metadata_compl *compl)
 {
+	compl->tx_timestamp = NULL;
+
 	if (!meta)
 		return;
 
-	if (meta->flags & XDP_TXMD_FLAGS_TIMESTAMP)
-		compl->tx_timestamp = &meta->completion.tx_timestamp;
-	else
-		compl->tx_timestamp = NULL;
+	/* we can only arrive here if the completion timestamp has been
+	 * requested via XDP_TXMD_FLAGS_TIMESTAMP, see xsk_tx_metadata_request
+	 */
+
+	compl->tx_timestamp = &meta->completion.tx_timestamp;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -182,6 +185,9 @@ static inline void xsk_tx_metadata_request(struct xsk_tx_metadata **pmeta,
 		if (meta->flags & XDP_TXMD_FLAGS_CHECKSUM)
 			ops->tmo_request_checksum(meta->request.csum_start,
 						  meta->request.csum_offset, priv);
+
+	if (!(meta->flags & XDP_TXMD_FLAGS_TIMESTAMP))
+		*pmeta = NULL;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/net/xdp/xsk.c b/net/xdp/xsk.c
index f906d51b6699..fcc6f17f3576 100644
--- a/net/xdp/xsk.c
+++ b/net/xdp/xsk.c
@@ -998,6 +998,8 @@ static int xsk_skb_metadata(struct sk_buff *skb, void *buffer,
 
 	if (meta->flags & XDP_TXMD_FLAGS_LAUNCH_TIME)
 		skb->skb_mstamp_ns = meta->request.launch_time;
+	if (!(meta->flags & XDP_TXMD_FLAGS_TIMESTAMP))
+		meta = NULL;
 	xsk_tx_metadata_to_compl(meta, &skb_shinfo(skb)->xsk_meta);
 
 	return 0;