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 f49eb73f3..ae5d9f361 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
@@ -911,10 +911,10 @@ private JsonToken _skipUnknownField(int tag, int wireType) throws IOException
         }
         while (true) {
             _skipUnknownValue(wireType);
+            if (_checkEnd()) {
+                return (_currToken = JsonToken.END_OBJECT);
+            }
             if (_state == STATE_NESTED_KEY) {
-                if (_checkEnd()) {
-                    return (_currToken = JsonToken.END_OBJECT);
-                }
                 if (_inputPtr >= _inputEnd) {
                     loadMoreGuaranteed();
                 }