diff --git a/vowpalwabbit/core/src/reductions/conditional_contextual_bandit.cc b/vowpalwabbit/core/src/reductions/conditional_contextual_bandit.cc
index ee3db743b11..75762e8ce30 100644
--- a/vowpalwabbit/core/src/reductions/conditional_contextual_bandit.cc
+++ b/vowpalwabbit/core/src/reductions/conditional_contextual_bandit.cc
@@ -549,11 +549,10 @@ void update_stats_ccb(const VW::workspace& /* all */, shared_data& sd, const ccb
       auto* outcome = data.slots[i]->l.conditional_contextual_bandit.outcome;
       if (outcome != nullptr)
       {
+        num_labeled++;
         // It is possible for the prediction to be empty if there were no actions available at the time of taking the
         // slot decision. In this case it does not contribute to loss.
         if (preds[i].empty()) { continue; }
-
-        num_labeled++;
         if (i == 0 || data.all_slots_loss_report)
         {
           const float l = VW::get_cost_estimate(outcome->probabilities[VW::details::TOP_ACTION_INDEX], outcome->cost,