diff --git a/include/net/flow_offload.h b/include/net/flow_offload.h
index ba433497789b..a039c900c384 100644
--- a/include/net/flow_offload.h
+++ b/include/net/flow_offload.h
@@ -227,6 +227,7 @@ struct flow_action_entry {
 			u16 zone;
 		} ct;
 		struct {
+			unsigned long cookie;
 			u32 mark;
 			u32 labels[4];
 		} ct_metadata;
diff --git a/include/net/tc_act/tc_ct.h b/include/net/tc_act/tc_ct.h
index cf3492e2a6a4..735da5912974 100644
--- a/include/net/tc_act/tc_ct.h
+++ b/include/net/tc_act/tc_ct.h
@@ -55,6 +55,13 @@ static inline uint16_t tcf_ct_zone(const struct tc_action *a) { return 0; }
 static inline int tcf_ct_action(const struct tc_action *a) { return 0; }
 #endif /* CONFIG_NF_CONNTRACK */
 
+#if IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_NET_ACT_CT)
+void tcf_ct_flow_table_restore_skb(struct sk_buff *skb, unsigned long cookie);
+#else
+static inline void
+tcf_ct_flow_table_restore_skb(struct sk_buff *skb, unsigned long cookie) { }
+#endif
+
 static inline bool is_tcf_ct(const struct tc_action *a)
 {
 #if defined(CONFIG_NET_CLS_ACT) && IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_NF_CONNTRACK)
diff --git a/net/sched/act_ct.c b/net/sched/act_ct.c
index 9c522bc51f68..31eef8a847d2 100644
--- a/net/sched/act_ct.c
+++ b/net/sched/act_ct.c
@@ -170,6 +170,7 @@ static void tcf_ct_flow_table_add_action_meta(struct nf_conn *ct,
 {
 	struct nf_conn_labels *ct_labels;
 	struct flow_action_entry *entry;
+	enum ip_conntrack_info ctinfo;
 	u32 *act_ct_labels;
 
 	entry = tcf_ct_flow_table_flow_action_get_next(action);
@@ -177,6 +178,10 @@ static void tcf_ct_flow_table_add_action_meta(struct nf_conn *ct,
 #if IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_NF_CONNTRACK_MARK)
 	entry->ct_metadata.mark = ct->mark;
 #endif
+	ctinfo = dir == IP_CT_DIR_ORIGINAL ? IP_CT_ESTABLISHED :
+					     IP_CT_ESTABLISHED_REPLY;
+	/* aligns with the CT reference on the SKB nf_ct_set */
+	entry->ct_metadata.cookie = (unsigned long)ct | ctinfo;
 
 	act_ct_labels = entry->ct_metadata.labels;
 	ct_labels = nf_ct_labels_find(ct);
@@ -1530,6 +1535,17 @@ static void __exit ct_cleanup_module(void)
 	destroy_workqueue(act_ct_wq);
 }
 
+void tcf_ct_flow_table_restore_skb(struct sk_buff *skb, unsigned long cookie)
+{
+	enum ip_conntrack_info ctinfo = cookie & NFCT_INFOMASK;
+	struct nf_conn *ct;
+
+	ct = (struct nf_conn *)(cookie & NFCT_PTRMASK);
+	nf_conntrack_get(&ct->ct_general);
+	nf_ct_set(skb, ct, ctinfo);
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(tcf_ct_flow_table_restore_skb);
+
 module_init(ct_init_module);
 module_exit(ct_cleanup_module);
 MODULE_AUTHOR("Paul Blakey <paulb@mellanox.com>");