diff --git a/pkg/roachpb/api.go b/pkg/roachpb/api.go
index dafdf4ada9dc..5cff531b3dfa 100644
--- a/pkg/roachpb/api.go
+++ b/pkg/roachpb/api.go
@@ -1076,11 +1076,20 @@ func (*ImportRequest) flags() int           { return isAdmin | isAlone }
 func (*AdminScatterRequest) flags() int     { return isAdmin | isAlone | isRange }
 func (*AddSSTableRequest) flags() int       { return isWrite | isAlone | isRange | isUnsplittable }
 
-// RefreshRequest and RefreshRangeRequest both list
-// updates(Read)TSCache, though they actually update the read or write
-// timestamp cache depending on the write parameter in the request.
-func (*RefreshRequest) flags() int      { return isRead | isTxn | updatesReadTSCache }
-func (*RefreshRangeRequest) flags() int { return isRead | isTxn | isRange | updatesReadTSCache }
+// RefreshRequest and RefreshRangeRequest both determine which timestamp cache
+// they update based on their Write parameter.
+func (r *RefreshRequest) flags() int {
+	if r.Write {
+		return isRead | isTxn | updatesWriteTSCache
+	}
+	return isRead | isTxn | updatesReadTSCache
+}
+func (r *RefreshRangeRequest) flags() int {
+	if r.Write {
+		return isRead | isTxn | isRange | updatesWriteTSCache
+	}
+	return isRead | isTxn | isRange | updatesReadTSCache
+}
 
 func (*SubsumeRequest) flags() int { return isRead | isAlone | updatesReadTSCache }
 
diff --git a/pkg/storage/replica_tscache.go b/pkg/storage/replica_tscache.go
index 616b85268758..1a36dc941651 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/replica_tscache.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/replica_tscache.go
@@ -132,10 +132,6 @@ func (r *Replica) updateTimestampCache(
 						tc.Add(start, end, t.Txn.Timestamp, uuid.UUID{}, true /* readCache */)
 					}
 				}
-			case *roachpb.RefreshRequest:
-				tc.Add(start, end, ts, txnID, !t.Write /* readCache */)
-			case *roachpb.RefreshRangeRequest:
-				tc.Add(start, end, ts, txnID, !t.Write /* readCache */)
 			default:
 				tc.Add(start, end, ts, txnID, !roachpb.UpdatesWriteTimestampCache(args))
 			}