diff --git a/originator.c b/originator.c
index edfb921..24e0681 100644
--- a/originator.c
+++ b/originator.c
@@ -335,7 +335,6 @@ struct batadv_orig_node *batadv_orig_node_new(struct batadv_priv *bat_priv,
 	/* extra reference for return */
 	atomic_set(&orig_node->refcount, 2);
 
-	orig_node->tt_initialised = false;
 	orig_node->bat_priv = bat_priv;
 	memcpy(orig_node->orig, addr, ETH_ALEN);
 	batadv_dat_init_orig_node_addr(orig_node);
diff --git a/translation-table.c b/translation-table.c
index 1f482a4..2b7bb2e 100644
--- a/translation-table.c
+++ b/translation-table.c
@@ -1748,7 +1748,7 @@ void batadv_tt_global_del_orig(struct batadv_priv *bat_priv,
 		}
 		spin_unlock_bh(list_lock);
 	}
-	orig_node->tt_initialised = false;
+	orig_node->capa_initialized &= ~BATADV_ORIG_CAPA_HAS_TVLV;
 }
 
 static bool batadv_tt_global_to_purge(struct batadv_tt_global_entry *tt_global,
@@ -2702,7 +2702,7 @@ static void _batadv_tt_update_changes(struct batadv_priv *bat_priv,
 				return;
 		}
 	}
-	orig_node->tt_initialised = true;
+	orig_node->capa_initialized |= BATADV_ORIG_CAPA_HAS_TVLV;
 }
 
 static void batadv_tt_fill_gtable(struct batadv_priv *bat_priv,
@@ -3192,13 +3192,15 @@ static void batadv_tt_update_orig(struct batadv_priv *bat_priv,
 	uint8_t orig_ttvn = (uint8_t)atomic_read(&orig_node->last_ttvn);
 	struct batadv_tvlv_tt_vlan_data *tt_vlan;
 	bool full_table = true;
+	bool has_tt_init;
 
 	tt_vlan = (struct batadv_tvlv_tt_vlan_data *)tt_buff;
+	has_tt_init = orig_node->capa_initialized & BATADV_ORIG_CAPA_HAS_TVLV;
+
 	/* orig table not initialised AND first diff is in the OGM OR the ttvn
 	 * increased by one -> we can apply the attached changes
 	 */
-	if ((!orig_node->tt_initialised && ttvn == 1) ||
-	    ttvn - orig_ttvn == 1) {
+	if ((!has_tt_init && ttvn == 1) || ttvn - orig_ttvn == 1) {
 		/* the OGM could not contain the changes due to their size or
 		 * because they have already been sent BATADV_TT_OGM_APPEND_MAX
 		 * times.
@@ -3239,7 +3241,7 @@ static void batadv_tt_update_orig(struct batadv_priv *bat_priv,
 		/* if we missed more than one change or our tables are not
 		 * in sync anymore -> request fresh tt data
 		 */
-		if (!orig_node->tt_initialised || ttvn != orig_ttvn ||
+		if (!has_tt_init || ttvn != orig_ttvn ||
 		    !batadv_tt_global_check_crc(orig_node, tt_vlan,
 						tt_num_vlan)) {
 request_table:
diff --git a/types.h b/types.h
index 8966508..54ea34a 100644
--- a/types.h
+++ b/types.h
@@ -166,13 +166,12 @@ struct batadv_orig_bat_iv {
  * @bcast_seqno_reset: time when the broadcast seqno window was reset
  * @batman_seqno_reset: time when the batman seqno window was reset
  * @capabilities: announced capabilities of this originator
+ * @capa_initialized: bitfield to remember whether a capability was initialized
  * @last_ttvn: last seen translation table version number
  * @tt_buff: last tt changeset this node received from the orig node
  * @tt_buff_len: length of the last tt changeset this node received from the
  *  orig node
  * @tt_buff_lock: lock that protects tt_buff and tt_buff_len
- * @tt_initialised: bool keeping track of whether or not this node have received
- *  any translation table information from the orig node yet
  * @tt_lock: prevents from updating the table while reading it. Table update is
  *  made up by two operations (data structure update and metdata -CRC/TTVN-
  *  recalculation) and they have to be executed atomically in order to avoid
@@ -213,6 +212,7 @@ struct batadv_orig_node {
 	unsigned long bcast_seqno_reset;
 	unsigned long batman_seqno_reset;
 	uint8_t capabilities;
+	uint8_t capa_initialized;
 	atomic_t last_ttvn;
 	unsigned char *tt_buff;
 	int16_t tt_buff_len;
@@ -251,10 +251,12 @@ struct batadv_orig_node {
  * enum batadv_orig_capabilities - orig node capabilities
  * @BATADV_ORIG_CAPA_HAS_DAT: orig node has distributed arp table enabled
  * @BATADV_ORIG_CAPA_HAS_NC: orig node has network coding enabled
+ * @BATADV_ORIG_CAPA_HAS_TVLV: orig node has tvlv capability
  */
 enum batadv_orig_capabilities {
 	BATADV_ORIG_CAPA_HAS_DAT = BIT(0),
 	BATADV_ORIG_CAPA_HAS_NC = BIT(1),
+	BATADV_ORIG_CAPA_HAS_TVLV = BIT(2),
 };
 
 /**
