diff --git a/protobuf/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/protobuf/ProtobufParser.java b/protobuf/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/protobuf/ProtobufParser.java
index 77b1c34f2..a6a680b07 100644
--- a/protobuf/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/protobuf/ProtobufParser.java
+++ b/protobuf/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/protobuf/ProtobufParser.java
@@ -923,7 +923,6 @@ private JsonToken _skipUnknownField(int tag, int wireType) throws IOException
             // Note: may be null; if so, value needs to be skipped
             _currentField = _currentMessage.field(tag >> 3);
             if (_currentField == null) {
-                _skipUnknownValue(wireType);
                 continue;
             }
             _parsingContext.setCurrentName(_currentField.name);