diff --git a/plugins/inputs/kafka_consumer/kafka_consumer.go b/plugins/inputs/kafka_consumer/kafka_consumer.go
index 9d262b734..088b4c0b4 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/kafka_consumer/kafka_consumer.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/kafka_consumer/kafka_consumer.go
@@ -64,7 +64,6 @@ type KafkaConsumer struct {
 	topicClient     sarama.Client
 	regexps         []regexp.Regexp
 	allWantedTopics []string
-	ticker          *time.Ticker
 	fingerprint     string
 
 	parser    telegraf.Parser
@@ -376,15 +375,13 @@ func (k *KafkaConsumer) Gather(_ telegraf.Accumulator) error {
 }
 
 func (k *KafkaConsumer) Stop() {
-	if k.ticker != nil {
-		k.ticker.Stop()
-	}
 	// Lock so that a topic refresh cannot start while we are stopping.
 	k.topicLock.Lock()
-	defer k.topicLock.Unlock()
 	if k.topicClient != nil {
 		k.topicClient.Close()
 	}
+	k.topicLock.Unlock()
+
 	k.cancel()
 	k.wg.Wait()
 }