diff --git a/storage/remote/codec.go b/storage/remote/codec.go
index b14920793bf..b7bd2563f7a 100644
--- a/storage/remote/codec.go
+++ b/storage/remote/codec.go
@@ -630,7 +630,7 @@ func exemplarProtoToExemplar(ep prompb.Exemplar) exemplar.Exemplar {
 	}
 }
 
-func minMetadataProtoToMetadata(mp *writev2.Metadata, symbols []string) metadata.Metadata {
+func minMetadataProtoToMetadata(mp writev2.Metadata, symbols []string) metadata.Metadata {
 	return metadata.Metadata{
 		Type: metricTypeFromProtoEquivalent(mp.Type),
 		Unit: symbols[mp.UnitRef], // TODO: check for overflow
diff --git a/storage/remote/codec_test.go b/storage/remote/codec_test.go
index e6878b05b90..651514c7df6 100644
--- a/storage/remote/codec_test.go
+++ b/storage/remote/codec_test.go
@@ -107,14 +107,14 @@ var writeRequestMinimizedFixture = func() *writev2.WriteRequest {
 				Samples:    []writev2.Sample{{Value: 1, Timestamp: 0}},
 				Exemplars:  []writev2.Exemplar{{LabelsRefs: []uint32{10, 11}, Value: 1, Timestamp: 0}},
 				Histograms: []writev2.Histogram{HistogramToMinHistogramProto(0, &testHistogram), FloatHistogramToMinHistogramProto(1, testHistogram.ToFloat(nil))},
-				Metadata:   &writev2.Metadata{Type: writev2.Metadata_COUNTER, HelpRef: 14, UnitRef: 15},
+				Metadata:   writev2.Metadata{Type: writev2.Metadata_COUNTER, HelpRef: 14, UnitRef: 15},
 			},
 			{
 				LabelsRefs: labels,
 				Samples:    []writev2.Sample{{Value: 2, Timestamp: 1}},
 				Exemplars:  []writev2.Exemplar{{LabelsRefs: []uint32{12, 13}, Value: 2, Timestamp: 1}},
 				Histograms: []writev2.Histogram{HistogramToMinHistogramProto(2, &testHistogram), FloatHistogramToMinHistogramProto(3, testHistogram.ToFloat(nil))},
-				Metadata:   &writev2.Metadata{Type: writev2.Metadata_GAUGE, HelpRef: 16, UnitRef: 17},
+				Metadata:   writev2.Metadata{Type: writev2.Metadata_GAUGE, HelpRef: 16, UnitRef: 17},
 			},
 		},
 		Symbols: st.LabelsStrings(),
diff --git a/storage/remote/queue_manager.go b/storage/remote/queue_manager.go
index 0947c633131..9bbe65ca781 100644
--- a/storage/remote/queue_manager.go
+++ b/storage/remote/queue_manager.go
@@ -1663,17 +1663,15 @@ func populateMinimizedTimeSeriesStr(symbolTable *rwSymbolTable, batch []timeSeri
 		if sendNativeHistograms {
 			pendingData[nPending].Histograms = pendingData[nPending].Histograms[:0]
 		}
-		if sendMetadata {
-			pendingData[nPending].Metadata = &writev2.Metadata{}
-		}
+
 		// Number of pending samples is limited by the fact that sendSamples (via sendSamplesWithBackoff)
 		// retries endlessly, so once we reach max samples, if we can never send to the endpoint we'll
 		// stop reading from the queue. This makes it safe to reference pendingSamples by index.
 		// pendingData[nPending].Labels = labelsToLabelsProto(d.seriesLabels, pendingData[nPending].Labels)
 
 		pendingData[nPending].LabelsRefs = labelsToUint32SliceStr(d.seriesLabels, symbolTable, pendingData[nPending].LabelsRefs)
-		if sendMetadata {
-			pendingData[nPending].Metadata = &writev2.Metadata{
+		if sendMetadata && d.metadata != nil {
+			pendingData[nPending].Metadata = writev2.Metadata{
 				Type:    metricTypeToProtoEquivalent(d.metadata.Type),
 				HelpRef: symbolTable.RefStr(d.metadata.Help),
 				UnitRef: symbolTable.RefStr(d.metadata.Unit),