diff --git a/packages/rest-hooks/src/state/NetworkManager.ts b/packages/rest-hooks/src/state/NetworkManager.ts
index f8cfc405690..46bdba4fbc0 100644
--- a/packages/rest-hooks/src/state/NetworkManager.ts
+++ b/packages/rest-hooks/src/state/NetworkManager.ts
@@ -51,8 +51,6 @@ export default class NetworkManager implements Manager {
             // It's important to intercept other fetches as we don't want to trigger reducers during
             // render - so we need to stop 'readonly' fetches which can be triggered in render
             if (action.meta.optimisticResponse !== undefined) {
-              /* istanbul ignore next */
-              if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production') action.meta.nm = true;
               return next(action);
             }
             return Promise.resolve();
diff --git a/packages/rest-hooks/src/state/reducer.ts b/packages/rest-hooks/src/state/reducer.ts
index a75b56956b5..414ae0b5bc2 100644
--- a/packages/rest-hooks/src/state/reducer.ts
+++ b/packages/rest-hooks/src/state/reducer.ts
@@ -28,18 +28,20 @@ export default function reducer(
   if (!state) state = initialState;
   switch (action.type) {
     case FETCH_TYPE: {
-      // If 'fetch' action reaches the reducer there are no middlewares installed to handle it
-      if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production' && !action.meta.nm) {
-        console.warn(
-          'Fetch appears unhandled - you are likely missing the NetworkManager middleware',
-        );
-        console.warn(
-          'See https://resthooks.io/docs/guides/redux#indextsx for hooking up redux',
-        );
+      const optimisticResponse = action.meta.optimisticResponse;
+      if (optimisticResponse === undefined) {
+        // If 'fetch' action reaches the reducer there are no middlewares installed to handle it
+        if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production') {
+          console.warn(
+            'Fetch appears unhandled - you are likely missing the NetworkManager middleware',
+          );
+          console.warn(
+            'See https://resthooks.io/docs/guides/redux#indextsx for hooking up redux',
+          );
+        }
+        return state;
       }
 
-      const optimisticResponse = action.meta.optimisticResponse;
-      if (optimisticResponse === undefined) return state;
       return {
         ...state,
         optimistic: [