diff --git a/userspace/libsinsp/sinsp.cpp b/userspace/libsinsp/sinsp.cpp
index 9c8d7708b7..c10d79f867 100644
--- a/userspace/libsinsp/sinsp.cpp
+++ b/userspace/libsinsp/sinsp.cpp
@@ -1308,7 +1308,13 @@ int32_t sinsp::next(OUT sinsp_evt **puevt)
 		get_procs_cpu_from_driver(ts);
 	}
 
-	// this is used by things like the k8s and mesos clients
+	//
+	// Store a couple of values that we'll need later inside the event.
+	// These are potentially used both for parsing the event for internal
+	// state management, and for managing the k8s and mesos clients.
+	//
+	m_nevts++;
+	evt->m_evtnum = m_nevts;
 	m_lastevent_ts = ts;
 
 	if (m_automatic_threadtable_purging)
@@ -1456,10 +1462,6 @@ int32_t sinsp::next(OUT sinsp_evt **puevt)
 	m_parser->process_event(evt);
 #endif
 
-	// set the event number
-	m_nevts++;
-	evt->m_evtnum = m_nevts;
-
 	//
 	// If needed, dump the event to file
 	//