diff --git a/lib/timers.js b/lib/timers.js
index 954c73f6026..39a22454ac9 100644
--- a/lib/timers.js
+++ b/lib/timers.js
@@ -465,8 +465,8 @@ function rearm(timer, start = TimerWrap.now()) {
 
 
 const clearTimeout = exports.clearTimeout = function(timer) {
-  if (timer && (timer[kOnTimeout] || timer._onTimeout)) {
-    timer[kOnTimeout] = timer._onTimeout = null;
+  if (timer && timer._onTimeout) {
+    timer._onTimeout = null;
     if (timer instanceof Timeout) {
       timer.close(); // for after === 0
     } else {