diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ice/ice_ptp_hw.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ice/ice_ptp_hw.c
index eb98f2781627f..10445bba65391 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ice/ice_ptp_hw.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ice/ice_ptp_hw.c
@@ -754,29 +754,32 @@ ice_read_phy_tstamp_e822(struct ice_hw *hw, u8 quad, u8 idx, u64 *tstamp)
  * @quad: the quad to read from
  * @idx: the timestamp index to reset
  *
- * Clear a timestamp, resetting its valid bit, from the PHY quad block that is
- * shared between the internal PHYs on the E822 devices.
+ * Read the timestamp out of the quad to clear its timestamp status bit from
+ * the PHY quad block that is shared between the internal PHYs of the E822
+ * devices.
+ *
+ * Note that unlike E810, software cannot directly write to the quad memory
+ * bank registers. E822 relies on the ice_get_phy_tx_tstamp_ready() function
+ * to determine which timestamps are valid. Reading a timestamp auto-clears
+ * the valid bit.
+ *
+ * To directly clear the contents of the timestamp block entirely, discarding
+ * all timestamp data at once, software should instead use
+ * ice_ptp_reset_ts_memory_quad_e822().
+ *
+ * This function should only be called on an idx whose bit is set according to
+ * ice_get_phy_tx_tstamp_ready().
  */
 static int
 ice_clear_phy_tstamp_e822(struct ice_hw *hw, u8 quad, u8 idx)
 {
-	u16 lo_addr, hi_addr;
+	u64 unused_tstamp;
 	int err;
 
-	lo_addr = (u16)TS_L(Q_REG_TX_MEMORY_BANK_START, idx);
-	hi_addr = (u16)TS_H(Q_REG_TX_MEMORY_BANK_START, idx);
-
-	err = ice_write_quad_reg_e822(hw, quad, lo_addr, 0);
-	if (err) {
-		ice_debug(hw, ICE_DBG_PTP, "Failed to clear low PTP timestamp register, err %d\n",
-			  err);
-		return err;
-	}
-
-	err = ice_write_quad_reg_e822(hw, quad, hi_addr, 0);
+	err = ice_read_phy_tstamp_e822(hw, quad, idx, &unused_tstamp);
 	if (err) {
-		ice_debug(hw, ICE_DBG_PTP, "Failed to clear high PTP timestamp register, err %d\n",
-			  err);
+		ice_debug(hw, ICE_DBG_PTP, "Failed to read the timestamp register for quad %u, idx %u, err %d\n",
+			  quad, idx, err);
 		return err;
 	}
 
@@ -2812,28 +2815,39 @@ ice_read_phy_tstamp_e810(struct ice_hw *hw, u8 lport, u8 idx, u64 *tstamp)
  * @lport: the lport to read from
  * @idx: the timestamp index to reset
  *
- * Clear a timestamp, resetting its valid bit, from the timestamp block of the
- * external PHY on the E810 device.
+ * Read the timestamp and then forcibly overwrite its value to clear the valid
+ * bit from the timestamp block of the external PHY on the E810 device.
+ *
+ * This function should only be called on an idx whose bit is set according to
+ * ice_get_phy_tx_tstamp_ready().
  */
 static int ice_clear_phy_tstamp_e810(struct ice_hw *hw, u8 lport, u8 idx)
 {
 	u32 lo_addr, hi_addr;
+	u64 unused_tstamp;
 	int err;
 
+	err = ice_read_phy_tstamp_e810(hw, lport, idx, &unused_tstamp);
+	if (err) {
+		ice_debug(hw, ICE_DBG_PTP, "Failed to read the timestamp register for lport %u, idx %u, err %d\n",
+			  lport, idx, err);
+		return err;
+	}
+
 	lo_addr = TS_EXT(LOW_TX_MEMORY_BANK_START, lport, idx);
 	hi_addr = TS_EXT(HIGH_TX_MEMORY_BANK_START, lport, idx);
 
 	err = ice_write_phy_reg_e810(hw, lo_addr, 0);
 	if (err) {
-		ice_debug(hw, ICE_DBG_PTP, "Failed to clear low PTP timestamp register, err %d\n",
-			  err);
+		ice_debug(hw, ICE_DBG_PTP, "Failed to clear low PTP timestamp register for lport %u, idx %u, err %d\n",
+			  lport, idx, err);
 		return err;
 	}
 
 	err = ice_write_phy_reg_e810(hw, hi_addr, 0);
 	if (err) {
-		ice_debug(hw, ICE_DBG_PTP, "Failed to clear high PTP timestamp register, err %d\n",
-			  err);
+		ice_debug(hw, ICE_DBG_PTP, "Failed to clear high PTP timestamp register for lport %u, idx %u, err %d\n",
+			  lport, idx, err);
 		return err;
 	}
 
@@ -3515,9 +3529,15 @@ int ice_read_phy_tstamp(struct ice_hw *hw, u8 block, u8 idx, u64 *tstamp)
  * @block: the block to read from
  * @idx: the timestamp index to reset
  *
- * Clear a timestamp, resetting its valid bit, from the timestamp block. For
- * E822 devices, the block is the quad to clear from. For E810 devices, the
- * block is the logical port to clear from.
+ * Clear a timestamp from the timestamp block, discarding its value without
+ * returning it. This resets the memory status bit for the timestamp index
+ * allowing it to be reused for another timestamp in the future.
+ *
+ * For E822 devices, the block number is the PHY quad to clear from. For E810
+ * devices, the block number is the logical port to clear from.
+ *
+ * This function must only be called on a timestamp index whose valid bit is
+ * set according to ice_get_phy_tx_tstamp_ready().
  */
 int ice_clear_phy_tstamp(struct ice_hw *hw, u8 block, u8 idx)
 {