diff --git a/src/main/client/batch_operate.c b/src/main/client/batch_operate.c
index 476e112ce..c5ae47415 100644
--- a/src/main/client/batch_operate.c
+++ b/src/main/client/batch_operate.c
@@ -145,26 +145,6 @@ static PyObject *AerospikeClient_Batch_Operate_Invoke(
     Py_ssize_t ops_size = PyList_Size(py_ops);
     as_operations_inita(&ops, ops_size);
 
-    // The C client's batch write policy doesn't have a ttl option
-    // The correct way is to set the ttl inside the as_operations object
-    PyObject *py_ttl = PyDict_GetItemString(py_policy_batch_write, "ttl");
-    Py_XINCREF(py_ttl);
-    // Default ttl
-    if (py_ttl != NULL) {
-        if (PyLong_Check(py_ttl)) {
-            long ttl = PyLong_AsLong(py_ttl);
-            if (ttl > UINT32_MAX || ttl < 0) {
-                as_error_update(err, AEROSPIKE_ERR_PARAM,
-                                "ttl is out of range. It must be a 32 bit "
-                                "unsigned integer.");
-                Py_DECREF(py_ttl);
-                goto CLEANUP;
-            }
-            ops.ttl = ttl;
-        }
-    }
-    Py_XDECREF(py_ttl);
-
     PyObject *br_instance = NULL;
 
     if (!self || !self->as) {
@@ -240,6 +220,26 @@ static PyObject *AerospikeClient_Batch_Operate_Invoke(
                 &batch_write_exp_list_p) != AEROSPIKE_OK) {
             goto CLEANUP;
         }
+
+        // The C client's batch write policy doesn't have a ttl option
+        // The correct way is to set the ttl inside the as_operations object
+        PyObject *py_ttl = PyDict_GetItemString(py_policy_batch_write, "ttl");
+        Py_XINCREF(py_ttl);
+        // Default ttl
+        if (py_ttl != NULL) {
+            if (PyLong_Check(py_ttl)) {
+                long ttl = PyLong_AsLong(py_ttl);
+                if (ttl > UINT32_MAX || ttl < 0) {
+                    as_error_update(err, AEROSPIKE_ERR_PARAM,
+                                    "ttl is out of range. It must be a 32 bit "
+                                    "unsigned integer.");
+                    Py_DECREF(py_ttl);
+                    goto CLEANUP;
+                }
+                ops.ttl = ttl;
+            }
+        }
+        Py_XDECREF(py_ttl);
     }
 
     // import batch_records helper