diff --git a/devices/statistics_writer/hdf5_writer.py b/devices/statistics_writer/hdf5_writer.py
index 456d36c0824220b597f7897be62d6fa545debc2c..3a59566219ef4b1a32ce20e0baedf0e3fa8128d3 100644
--- a/devices/statistics_writer/hdf5_writer.py
+++ b/devices/statistics_writer/hdf5_writer.py
@@ -65,6 +65,12 @@ class hdf5_writer:
         # grab the timestamp
         statistics_timestamp = statistics_packet.timestamp()
 
+        # ignore packets with no timestamp, as they indicate FPGA processing was disabled
+        # and are useless anyway.
+        if statistics_packet.block_serial_number == 0:
+            logger.warning(f"Received statistics with no timestamp. Packet dropped.")
+            return
+
         # check if te statistics timestamp is unexpectedly older than the current one
         if statistics_timestamp < self.current_timestamp:
             logger.warning(f"Received statistics with earlier timestamp than is currently being processed ({statistics_timestamp}). Packet dropped.")