diff --git a/drivers/gpu/nova-core/gsp/cmdq.rs b/drivers/gpu/nova-core/gsp/cmdq.rs
index 806b1e02715e..b41a866e24da 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/nova-core/gsp/cmdq.rs
+++ b/drivers/gpu/nova-core/gsp/cmdq.rs
@@ -548,16 +548,14 @@ pub(crate) fn send_command<M>(&mut self, bar: &Bar0, command: M) -> Result
             command.init().__init(core::ptr::from_mut(cmd))?;
         }
 
-        // Fill the variable-length payload.
-        if command_size > size_of::<M::Command>() {
-            let mut sbuffer =
-                SBufferIter::new_writer([&mut payload_1[..], &mut dst.contents.1[..]]);
-            command.init_variable_payload(&mut sbuffer)?;
+        // Fill the variable-length payload, which may be empty.
+        let mut sbuffer = SBufferIter::new_writer([&mut payload_1[..], &mut dst.contents.1[..]]);
+        command.init_variable_payload(&mut sbuffer)?;
 
-            if !sbuffer.is_empty() {
-                return Err(EIO);
-            }
+        if !sbuffer.is_empty() {
+            return Err(EIO);
         }
+        drop(sbuffer);
 
         // Compute checksum now that the whole message is ready.
         dst.header