diff --git a/agent/rpc/peering/service.go b/agent/rpc/peering/service.go
index 8694baf600..17b862ffae 100644
--- a/agent/rpc/peering/service.go
+++ b/agent/rpc/peering/service.go
@@ -194,8 +194,6 @@ func (s *Server) GenerateToken(
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("meta tags failed validation: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	defer metrics.MeasureSince([]string{"peering", "generate_token"}, time.Now())
-
 	resp := &pbpeering.GenerateTokenResponse{}
 	handled, err := s.ForwardRPC(&writeRequest, func(conn *grpc.ClientConn) error {
 		ctx := external.ForwardMetadataContext(ctx)
@@ -207,6 +205,8 @@ func (s *Server) GenerateToken(
 		return resp, err
 	}
 
+	defer metrics.MeasureSince([]string{"peering", "generate_token"}, time.Now())
+
 	var authzCtx acl.AuthorizerContext
 	entMeta := structs.DefaultEnterpriseMetaInPartition(req.Partition)
 	authz, err := s.Backend.ResolveTokenAndDefaultMeta(external.TokenFromContext(ctx), entMeta, &authzCtx)