diff --git a/src/libcamera/pipeline/rpi/common/pipeline_base.cpp b/src/libcamera/pipeline/rpi/common/pipeline_base.cpp
index 5956485953a2..3f0b7abdc59a 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/pipeline/rpi/common/pipeline_base.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/pipeline/rpi/common/pipeline_base.cpp
@@ -659,9 +659,9 @@ int PipelineHandlerBase::start(Camera *camera, const ControlList *controls)
 	if (!result.controls.empty())
 		data->setSensorControls(result.controls);
 
-	/* Configure the number of dropped frames required on startup. */
-	data->dropFrameCount_ = data->config_.disableStartupFrameDrops ?
-			0 : result.startupFrameCount + result.invalidFrameCount;
+	/* Configure the number of startup and invalid frames reported by the IPA. */
+	data->startupFrameCount_ = result.startupFrameCount;
+	data->invalidFrameCount_ = result.invalidFrameCount;
 
 	for (auto const stream : data->streams_)
 		stream->resetBuffers();
@@ -678,7 +678,6 @@ int PipelineHandlerBase::start(Camera *camera, const ControlList *controls)
 		data->buffersAllocated_ = true;
 	}
 
-	/* We need to set the dropFrameCount_ before queueing buffers. */
 	ret = queueAllBuffers(camera);
 	if (ret) {
 		LOG(RPI, Error) << "Failed to queue buffers";
@@ -894,28 +893,12 @@ int PipelineHandlerBase::queueAllBuffers(Camera *camera)
 	int ret;
 
 	for (auto const stream : data->streams_) {
-		if (!(stream->getFlags() & StreamFlag::External)) {
-			ret = stream->queueAllBuffers();
-			if (ret < 0)
-				return ret;
-		} else {
-			/*
-			 * For external streams, we must queue up a set of internal
-			 * buffers to handle the number of drop frames requested by
-			 * the IPA. This is done by passing nullptr in queueBuffer().
-			 *
-			 * The below queueBuffer() call will do nothing if there
-			 * are not enough internal buffers allocated, but this will
-			 * be handled by queuing the request for buffers in the
-			 * RPiStream object.
-			 */
-			unsigned int i;
-			for (i = 0; i < data->dropFrameCount_; i++) {
-				ret = stream->queueBuffer(nullptr);
-				if (ret)
-					return ret;
-			}
-		}
+		if (stream->getFlags() & StreamFlag::External)
+			continue;
+
+		ret = stream->queueAllBuffers();
+		if (ret < 0)
+			return ret;
 	}
 
 	return 0;
@@ -1412,7 +1395,15 @@ void CameraData::handleStreamBuffer(FrameBuffer *buffer, RPi::Stream *stream)
 	 * buffer back to the stream.
 	 */
 	Request *request = requestQueue_.empty() ? nullptr : requestQueue_.front();
-	if (!dropFrameCount_ && request && request->findBuffer(stream) == buffer) {
+	if (request && request->findBuffer(stream) == buffer) {
+		FrameMetadata &md = buffer->_d()->metadata();
+
+		/* Mark the non-converged and invalid frames in the metadata. */
+		if (invalidFrameCount_)
+			md.status = FrameMetadata::Status::FrameError;
+		else if (startupFrameCount_)
+			md.status = FrameMetadata::Status::FrameStartup;
+
 		/*
 		 * Tag the buffer as completed, returning it to the
 		 * application.
@@ -1458,42 +1449,31 @@ void CameraData::handleState()
 
 void CameraData::checkRequestCompleted()
 {
-	bool requestCompleted = false;
-	/*
-	 * If we are dropping this frame, do not touch the request, simply
-	 * change the state to IDLE when ready.
-	 */
-	if (!dropFrameCount_) {
-		Request *request = requestQueue_.front();
-		if (request->hasPendingBuffers())
-			return;
+	Request *request = requestQueue_.front();
+	if (request->hasPendingBuffers())
+		return;
 
-		/* Must wait for metadata to be filled in before completing. */
-		if (state_ != State::IpaComplete)
-			return;
+	/* Must wait for metadata to be filled in before completing. */
+	if (state_ != State::IpaComplete)
+		return;
 
-		LOG(RPI, Debug) << "Completing request sequence: "
-				<< request->sequence();
+	LOG(RPI, Debug) << "Completing request sequence: "
+			<< request->sequence();
 
-		pipe()->completeRequest(request);
-		requestQueue_.pop();
-		requestCompleted = true;
-	}
+	pipe()->completeRequest(request);
+	requestQueue_.pop();
 
-	/*
-	 * Make sure we have three outputs completed in the case of a dropped
-	 * frame.
-	 */
-	if (state_ == State::IpaComplete &&
-	    ((ispOutputCount_ == ispOutputTotal_ && dropFrameCount_) ||
-	     requestCompleted)) {
-		LOG(RPI, Debug) << "Going into Idle state";
-		state_ = State::Idle;
-		if (dropFrameCount_) {
-			dropFrameCount_--;
-			LOG(RPI, Debug) << "Dropping frame at the request of the IPA ("
-					<< dropFrameCount_ << " left)";
-		}
+	LOG(RPI, Debug) << "Going into Idle state";
+	state_ = State::Idle;
+
+	if (invalidFrameCount_) {
+		invalidFrameCount_--;
+		LOG(RPI, Debug) << "Decrementing invalid frames to "
+				<< invalidFrameCount_;
+	} else if (startupFrameCount_) {
+		startupFrameCount_--;
+		LOG(RPI, Debug) << "Decrementing startup frames to "
+				<< startupFrameCount_;
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/src/libcamera/pipeline/rpi/common/pipeline_base.h b/src/libcamera/pipeline/rpi/common/pipeline_base.h
index aae0c2f35888..6023f9f9d6b3 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/pipeline/rpi/common/pipeline_base.h
+++ b/src/libcamera/pipeline/rpi/common/pipeline_base.h
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ class CameraData : public Camera::Private
 public:
 	CameraData(PipelineHandler *pipe)
 		: Camera::Private(pipe), state_(State::Stopped),
-		  dropFrameCount_(0), buffersAllocated_(false),
+		  startupFrameCount_(0), invalidFrameCount_(0), buffersAllocated_(false),
 		  ispOutputCount_(0), ispOutputTotal_(0)
 	{
 	}
@@ -151,7 +151,8 @@ public:
 	/* Mapping of CropParams keyed by the output stream order in CameraConfiguration */
 	std::map<unsigned int, CropParams> cropParams_;
 
-	unsigned int dropFrameCount_;
+	unsigned int startupFrameCount_;
+	unsigned int invalidFrameCount_;
 
 	/*
 	 * If set, this stores the value that represets a gain of one for