diff --git a/protobufs b/protobufs
index 8f3972e57..0985b94c2 160000
--- a/protobufs
+++ b/protobufs
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 8f3972e579b09c7f4682f49c609a88e9d0ee2097
+Subproject commit 0985b94c20287552daf63831fd9eda4e0ed1bd0e
diff --git a/src/mesh/generated/storeforward.pb.h b/src/mesh/generated/storeforward.pb.h
index 3f21114ff..0f0761949 100644
--- a/src/mesh/generated/storeforward.pb.h
+++ b/src/mesh/generated/storeforward.pb.h
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ typedef enum _StoreAndForward_RequestResponse {
     StoreAndForward_RequestResponse_ROUTER_BUSY = 5,
     /* Router is responding to a request for history. */
     StoreAndForward_RequestResponse_ROUTER_HISTORY = 6,
+    /* Router is responding to a request for stats. */
+    StoreAndForward_RequestResponse_ROUTER_STATS = 7,
     /* Client is an in error state. */
     StoreAndForward_RequestResponse_CLIENT_ERROR = 64,
     /* Client has requested a replay from the router. */
diff --git a/src/modules/esp32/StoreForwardModule.cpp b/src/modules/esp32/StoreForwardModule.cpp
index 54f124301..a79c390f0 100644
--- a/src/modules/esp32/StoreForwardModule.cpp
+++ b/src/modules/esp32/StoreForwardModule.cpp
@@ -42,8 +42,9 @@ int32_t StoreForwardModule::runOnce()
         } else if ((millis() - lastHeartbeat > (heartbeatInterval * 1000)) && (airTime->channelUtilizationPercent() < polite_channel_util_percent)) {
             lastHeartbeat = millis();
             DEBUG_MSG("*** Sending heartbeat\n");
-            StoreAndForward sf;
+            StoreAndForward sf = StoreAndForward_init_zero;
             sf.rr = StoreAndForward_RequestResponse_ROUTER_HEARTBEAT;
+            sf.which_variant = StoreAndForward_heartbeat_tag;
             sf.variant.heartbeat.period = 300;
             sf.variant.heartbeat.secondary = 0; // TODO we always have one primary router for now
             storeForwardModule->sendMessage(NODENUM_BROADCAST, sf);
@@ -181,7 +182,7 @@ void StoreForwardModule::sendPayload(NodeNum dest, uint32_t packetHistory_index)
     service.sendToMesh(p);
 }
 
-void StoreForwardModule::sendMessage(NodeNum dest, StoreAndForward payload)
+void StoreForwardModule::sendMessage(NodeNum dest, StoreAndForward &payload)
 {
     MeshPacket *p = allocDataProtobuf(payload);
 
@@ -205,8 +206,9 @@ void StoreForwardModule::sendMessage(NodeNum dest, StoreAndForward payload)
 
 void StoreForwardModule::statsSend(uint32_t to)
 {
-    StoreAndForward sf;
+    StoreAndForward sf = StoreAndForward_init_zero;
 
+    sf.rr = StoreAndForward_RequestResponse_ROUTER_STATS;
     sf.which_variant = StoreAndForward_stats_tag;
     sf.variant.stats.messages_total = this->packetHistoryMax;
     sf.variant.stats.messages_saved = this->packetHistoryCurrent;
diff --git a/src/modules/esp32/StoreForwardModule.h b/src/modules/esp32/StoreForwardModule.h
index 84b3747b6..011b7cf6d 100644
--- a/src/modules/esp32/StoreForwardModule.h
+++ b/src/modules/esp32/StoreForwardModule.h
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ class StoreForwardModule : private concurrency::OSThread, public ProtobufModule<
      * Send our payload into the mesh
      */
     void sendPayload(NodeNum dest = NODENUM_BROADCAST, uint32_t packetHistory_index = 0);
-    void sendMessage(NodeNum dest, StoreAndForward payload);
+    void sendMessage(NodeNum dest, StoreAndForward &payload);
     virtual MeshPacket *allocReply() override;
     /*
       -Override the wantPacket method.