diff --git a/google-cloud-bigtable/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigtable/gaxx/reframing/ReframingResponseObserver.java b/google-cloud-bigtable/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigtable/gaxx/reframing/ReframingResponseObserver.java
index 6f2440fff7..afe54ad8e5 100644
--- a/google-cloud-bigtable/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigtable/gaxx/reframing/ReframingResponseObserver.java
+++ b/google-cloud-bigtable/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigtable/gaxx/reframing/ReframingResponseObserver.java
@@ -274,11 +274,6 @@ private void deliverUnsafe() {
     }
 
     do {
-      // Optimization: the inner loop will eager process any accumulated state, so reset the lock
-      // for just this iteration. (If another event occurs during processing, it can increment the
-      // lock to enqueue another iteration).
-      lock.lazySet(1);
-
       // Process the upstream message if one exists.
       pollUpstream();