diff --git a/lib/iscsi/conn.c b/lib/iscsi/conn.c
index a90eced82..a72010b7a 100644
--- a/lib/iscsi/conn.c
+++ b/lib/iscsi/conn.c
@@ -913,7 +913,6 @@ spdk_iscsi_conn_handle_nop(struct spdk_iscsi_conn *conn)
 			conn->state = ISCSI_CONN_STATE_EXITING;
 		}
 	} else if (tsc - conn->last_nopin > conn->nopininterval) {
-		conn->last_nopin = tsc;
 		spdk_iscsi_send_nopin(conn);
 	}
 }
diff --git a/lib/iscsi/iscsi.c b/lib/iscsi/iscsi.c
index ae0dc3a53..999667e4a 100644
--- a/lib/iscsi/iscsi.c
+++ b/lib/iscsi/iscsi.c
@@ -4312,6 +4312,7 @@ void spdk_iscsi_send_nopin(struct spdk_iscsi_conn *conn)
 	to_be32(&rsp->max_cmd_sn, conn->sess->MaxCmdSN);
 
 	spdk_iscsi_conn_write_pdu(conn, rsp_pdu);
+	conn->last_nopin = spdk_get_ticks();
 	conn->nop_outstanding = true;
 }