Defending peers who have been bullied is often thought to put defenders at risk of becoming victimized themselves. The study investigated the concurrent and prospective associations between defending and (peer- and self-reported) victimization, and examined popularity and classroom norms as potential moderators. Participants included 4085 Finnish youth (43.9% boys; M[subscript age] = 14.56, SD = 0.75; 97% born in Finland). Concurrently, defending was positively associated with self-reported victimization in classrooms with high bullying-popularity norms (b = 0.28, SE = 0.16). Defending was negatively associated with peer-reported victimization in classrooms with high defending-popularity norms (b = -0.07, SE = 0.03). Defending was not significantly associated with future victimization, suggesting that it is generally not a risk factor for victimization.