diff --git a/src/core/transport/chttp2_transport.c b/src/core/transport/chttp2_transport.c
index deb903324e9..e5b0fa9f898 100644
--- a/src/core/transport/chttp2_transport.c
+++ b/src/core/transport/chttp2_transport.c
@@ -863,8 +863,8 @@ static void perform_stream_op_locked(
     GPR_ASSERT(stream_global->recv_message_ready == NULL);
     stream_global->recv_message_ready = op->recv_message_ready;
     stream_global->recv_message = op->recv_message;
-    if (stream_global->incoming_frames.head != NULL) {
-      incoming_byte_stream_update_flow_control(transport_global, stream_global, 5, 0);
+    if (stream_global->incoming_frames.head == NULL || stream_global->incoming_frames.head->is_tail) {
+      incoming_byte_stream_update_flow_control(transport_global, stream_global, transport_global->stream_lookahead, 0);
     }
     grpc_chttp2_list_add_check_read_ops(transport_global, stream_global);
   }