diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx4/en_tx.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx4/en_tx.c
index c10d98f6ad96..a1b4301f719a 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx4/en_tx.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx4/en_tx.c
@@ -400,7 +400,6 @@ static bool mlx4_en_process_tx_cq(struct net_device *dev,
 	u32 packets = 0;
 	u32 bytes = 0;
 	int factor = priv->cqe_factor;
-	u64 timestamp = 0;
 	int done = 0;
 	int budget = priv->tx_work_limit;
 	u32 last_nr_txbb;
@@ -440,9 +439,12 @@ static bool mlx4_en_process_tx_cq(struct net_device *dev,
 		new_index = be16_to_cpu(cqe->wqe_index) & size_mask;
 
 		do {
+			u64 timestamp = 0;
+
 			txbbs_skipped += last_nr_txbb;
 			ring_index = (ring_index + last_nr_txbb) & size_mask;
-			if (ring->tx_info[ring_index].ts_requested)
+
+			if (unlikely(ring->tx_info[ring_index].ts_requested))
 				timestamp = mlx4_en_get_cqe_ts(cqe);
 
 			/* free next descriptor */