diff --git a/clients/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/clients/consumer/internals/ConsumerCoordinator.java b/clients/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/clients/consumer/internals/ConsumerCoordinator.java
index 260756bbcd3..3aef0c5257c 100644
--- a/clients/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/clients/consumer/internals/ConsumerCoordinator.java
+++ b/clients/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/clients/consumer/internals/ConsumerCoordinator.java
@@ -810,16 +810,17 @@ public final class ConsumerCoordinator extends AbstractCoordinator {
         }
 
         final Generation generation;
-        if (subscriptions.partitionsAutoAssigned())
+        if (subscriptions.partitionsAutoAssigned()) {
             generation = generation();
-        else
+            // if the generation is null, we are not part of an active group (and we expect to be).
+            // the only thing we can do is fail the commit and let the user rejoin the group in poll()
+            if (generation == null) {
+                log.info("Failing OffsetCommit request since the consumer is not part of an active group");
+                return RequestFuture.failure(new CommitFailedException());
+            }
+        } else
             generation = Generation.NO_GENERATION;
 
-        // if the generation is null, we are not part of an active group (and we expect to be).
-        // the only thing we can do is fail the commit and let the user rejoin the group in poll()
-        if (generation == null)
-            return RequestFuture.failure(new CommitFailedException());
-
         OffsetCommitRequest.Builder builder = new OffsetCommitRequest.Builder(
                 new OffsetCommitRequestData()
                         .setGroupId(this.groupId)