diff --git a/llama.cpp b/llama.cpp
index 72457ec0c..27a6277eb 100644
--- a/llama.cpp
+++ b/llama.cpp
@@ -8371,12 +8371,12 @@ void llama_sample_top_k(struct llama_context * ctx, llama_token_data_array * can
     //     return;
     // }
 
+    const int64_t t_start_sample_us = ggml_time_us();
+    
     if (k <= 0) {
         k = candidates->size;
     }
 
-    const int64_t t_start_sample_us = ggml_time_us();
-
     k = std::max(k, (int) min_keep);
     k = std::min(k, (int) candidates->size);