Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communication are described. Generally, the described techniques provide for establishing rules for scheduling downlink data transmissions and flow control feedback for the downlink data transmissions to avoid confusion at a base station and a user equipment (UE). In one example, when flow control feedback from a UE is disabled for a downlink data transmission, the UE may still operate according to a timing for reporting flow control feedback for the downlink data transmission. In this example, the UE may drop (e.g., refrain from decoding) other downlink data transmissions based on the timing for reporting flow control feedback. In another example, when flow control feedback from a UE is disabled for a downlink data transmission, other downlink data transmissions to the UE may be scheduled according to one or more rules to avoid confusion.